Table 1.
Characteristics of prescription opioid dose and duration dispensed to VACS participants, 2002–2012
| Survey | BL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days of Consecutive Opioid Rx Use, Previous Year | |||||||
| Short-Term Use (≥1 day & <90 days) | 1188 (76.7%) | 511 (67.1%) | 754 (67.4%) | 767 (66.0%) | 807 (61.1%) | 789 (62.0%) | 745 (60.1%) |
| Long-Term Use (≥90 days) | 361 (23.3%) | 251 (32.9%) | 365 (32.6%) | 395 (34.0%) | 514 (38.9%) | 483 (38.0%) | 494 (39.9%) |
| Opioid Rx MEDD, Previous Year | |||||||
| 1–50mg | 1353 (88.7%) | 665 (88.0%) | 977 (88.5%) | 1011 (87.7%) | 1156 (88.6%) | 1123 (88.8%) | 1108 (89.6%) |
| 51–90mg | 104 (6.8%) | 49 (6.5%) | 69 (6.2%) | 74 (6.4%) | 86 (6.6%) | 84 (6.6%) | 74 (6.0%) |
| ≥90mg | 68 (4.5%) | 42 (5.5%) | 58 (5.2%) | 68 (5.9%) | 62 (4.7%) | 58 (4.6%) | 54 (4.4%) |
| Median MEDD in mg (IQR) | 31.1 (13.4–48.8) | 32.0 (13.2–50.7) | 34.5 (16.0–53.0) | 39.1 (21.4–56.8) | 40.6 (23.5–57.7) | 40.3 (24.6–56.0) | 37.1 (21.2–53.0) |
| Opioid Formulation | |||||||
| Short-Acting Only | 1113 (81.7%) | 386 (78.1%) | 626 (79.6%) | 602 (77.6%) | 752 (81.2%) | 775 (82.3%) | 807 (84.7%) |
| Long-Acting Only | 54 (4.0%) | 33 (6.7%) | 41 (5.2%) | 67 (8.6%) | 59 (6.4%) | 45 (4.8%) | 45 (4.7%) |
| Both | 195 (14.3%) | 75 (15.2%) | 119 (15.1%) | 107 (13.8%) | 115 (12.4%) | 122 (13.0%) | 101 (10.6%) |
Note: mg=milligrams; Rx=prescription; MEDD=morphine-equivalent daily dose; IQR=Interquartile Range