Table. National- and County-Level Opioid Prescribing in the United States, 2015 and 2017.
| Prescribing Measure | National Level | County Level | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2017 | Change, % | Opioid Prescribing in 2017 by Quartilea | Counties With Changes, 2015 to 2017, No. (%)b | ||||||
| Lowest | Second | Third | Highest | Decrease | Stable | Increase | ||||
| MME per capita | 641.4 | 512.6 | −20.1 | 182.8 | 437.3 | 641.1 | 1061.0 | 2204 (74.7) | 498 (16.9) | 247 (8.4) |
| Overall prescribing ratec | 70.7 | 58.7 | −16.9 | 25.1 | 55.1 | 76.0 | 115.8 | 2251 (76.3) | 499 (16.9) | 199 (6.8) |
| High-dose prescribing ratec,d | 6.7 | 5.0 | −25.3 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 6.0 | 10.6 | 2259 (76.6) | 380 (12.9) | 310 (10.5) |
| Average daily MME per prescription | 48.1 | 45.2 | −6.0 | 34.3 | 40.5 | 45.1 | 53.8 | 583 (19.8) | 2235 (75.8) | 131 (4.4) |
| Average duration of prescriptions, d | 17.7 | 18.3 | 3.4 | 15.8 | 18.0 | 19.7 | 21.9 | 50 (1.7) | 2636 (89.4) | 263 (8.9) |
| Median duration of prescriptions, d | 15.0 | 20.0 | 33.3 | 12.2 | 17.0 | 25.5 | 30.0 | 193 (6.5) | 1634 (55.4) | 1122 (38.1) |
Abbreviation: MME, morphine milligram equivalent.
a
Quartiles were created using MME per capita to characterize the distribution of opioids prescribed.
b
Among the 2949 counties with available data in 2015 and 2017, changes of ≥10% were considered to represent an increase or decrease, whereas changes <10% were considered stable.
c
Prescribing rates are presented per 100 persons.
d
High-dose prescribing rate includes opioid prescriptions with daily dosage ≥90 MME.