Table. Absolute and Relative Changes in the Number of Patients With Coprescription of Opioids and Benzodiazepines Before and After the US Food and Drug Administration Boxed Warninga.
| Group | Mean in Thousands (95% CI)b | Slope (95% CI) | Absolute Change in Thousands (95% CI)e | Relative Change (95% CI), %e | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prewarningc | Postwarningd | Prewarningc | Postwarningd | Change | |||
| Total | 2295.3 (2262.1 to 2328.5) | 1950.3 (1877.0 to 2023.5) | −8.5 (−12.4 to −4.7) | −27.3 (−32.4 to −22.2) | −18.8 (−25.1 to −12.4) | −315.9 (−419.2 to −212.5) | −17.9 (−23.7 to −12.1) |
| Men | 785.4 (773.7 to 797.0) | 661.6 (636.1 to 687.1) | −3.2 (−4.4 to −2.0) | −9.6 (−11.2 to −8.0) | −6.4 (−8.4 to −4.4) | −108.1 (−140.2 to −759.1) | −18.1 (−23.4 to −12.8) |
| Age, y | |||||||
| <18 | 6.3 (6.0 to 6.7) | 4.8 (4.5 to 5.2) | −0.01 (−0.1 to 0) | −0.01 (−0.2 to 0) | −0.01 (−0.01 to 0.1) | −0.9 (−3.0 to 1.2) | −20.7 (−68.0 to 26.5) |
| 18-34 | 60.3 (58.1 to 62.5) | 42.9 (39.9 to 45.8) | −0.01 (−0.2 to 0.1) | −0.01 (−0.2 to 0.1) | −0.01 (−0.2 to 0.2) | −7.0 (−15.2 to 1.1) | −19.9 (−42.4 to 2.7) |
| 35-49 | 175.0 (170.9 to 179.1) | 136.5 (129.3 to 143.8) | −0.7 (−1.0 to −0.4) | −1.0 (−1.4 to −0.7) | −0.3 (−0.8 to 0.2) | −23.9 (−36.8 to −11.0) | −20.3 (−31.1 to −9.5) |
| 50-65 | 338.0 (333.0 to 343.0) | 284.2 (272.9 to 295.5) | −1.2 (−1.7 to −0.6) | −1.9 (−2.5 to −1.2) | −0.7 (−1.6 to −0.2) | −47.0 (−62.5 to −31.5) | −18.4 (−24.4 to −12.4) |
| >65 | 205.7 (203.1 to 208.3) | 193.2 (188.3 to 198.1) | −1.3 (−1.8 to −0.8) | −2.7 (−3.3 to −2.1) | −1.4 (−2.2 to −0.6) | −28.0 (−43.1 to −12.9) | −15.3 (−23.3 to −7.2) |
| Women | 1510.0 (1488.3 to 1531.7) | 1288.7 (1240.9 to 1336.4) | −5.3 (−9.0 to −2.6) | −17.7 (−21.3 −14.1) | −12.4 (−16.8 to −7.9) | −207.7 (−279.9 to −135.5) | −17.8 (−23.9 to −11.7) |
| Age, y | |||||||
| <18 | 7.0 (6.5 to 7.4) | 5.3 (4.9 to 5.8) | −2.1 (−3.1 to −1.1) | −4.7 (−5.9 to −3.5) | −2.6 (−4.3 to −1.0) | −0.9 (−3.6 to 1.8) | −18.0 (−72.2 to 36.3) |
| 18-34 | 111.9 (108.2 to 115.7) | 81.7 (76.4 to 86.9) | −1.4 (−2.0 to −0.8) | −4.2 (−5.0 − 3.5) | −2.8 (−3.8 to −1.9) | −14.2 (−28.9 to 0.4) | −20.7 (−41.8 to 0.3) |
| 35-49 | 329.8 (323.0 to 336.7) | 265.4 (252.6 to 278.2) | −1.9 (−3.0 to −0.7) | −6.9 (−8.3 to −5.4) | −5.0 (−6.9 to −3.1) | −45.2 (−71.7 to −18.8) | −19.4 (−30.6 to −8.2) |
| 50-65 | 586.3 (578.4 to 594.2) | 503.3 (484.7 to 522.0) | 0.2 (−0.3 to 0.8) | −1.5 (−2.2 to −0.8) | −1.8 (−2.7 to −0.8) | −82.9 (−113.2 to −52.5) | −18.1 (−24.7 to −11.6) |
| >65 | 475.0 (470.0 to 480.1) | 432.9 (421.0 to 444.9) | −3.7 (−1.1 to −0.4) | −4.1 (−5.2 to −0.1) | −3.9 (−5.1 to −2.5) | −59.5 (−80.3 to −38.7) | −14.7 (−19.7 to −9.7) |
Total number (in thousands) of patients receiving opioids dropped 1568.9 (95% CI, 1199.1-1937.7), from 14493.7 (95% CI, 14 290.7-14 696.7) to 12 924.8 (95% CI, 12 575.9-13 273.7). Total number (in thousands) of patients receiving benzodiazepines dropped 490.8 (95% CI, 350.4-631.1), from 6317.6 (95% CI, 5240.4-6394.7) to 5826.8 (95% CI, 5694.5-5959.2). The monthly mean of the percentage of patients receiving opioids who were coprescribed benzodiazepines decreased from 15.8% (95% CI, 15.8%-15.9%) before the warning to 15.1% (95% CI, 14.9%-15.3%) after the warning (difference, 0.8%; 95% CI, 0.6%-1.0%). The monthly mean of the percentage of patients receiving benzodiazepines who were coprescribed opioids decreased from 36.3% (95% CI, 36.0%-36.6%) before the warning to 33.4% (95% CI, 32.8%-34.1%) after the warning (difference, 2.95%; 95% CI, 2.3%-3.5%). Data are from IQVIA LRx.
The first 2 columns report monthly means of the number of patients with coprescriptions in the prewarning period and the postwarning period, respectively.
Prewarning period is from January 2015 to August 2016.
Postwarning period is from September 2016 to December 2017.
Absolute and relative changes were calculated in December 2017 based on the difference between the counterfactual estimate derived using the prewarning trend and the linear estimate derived using the observed postwarning trend.