Table 1.
Description of Patient Population
| Patient characteristics | Full cohort | Primary model | |
| N = 2409 patients | Cases (N = 894) | Controls (N = 3576) | |
| unique patients with a sustained taper | non-unique patients with no sustained taper at time of case | ||
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |
| Year at cohort entry (matching variable) | |||
| 2011 | 1266 (52.6) | 531 (59.4) | 2124 (59.4) |
| 2012 | 394 (16.4) | 138 (15.4) | 552 (15.4) |
| 2013 | 264 (11.0) | 81 (9.1) | 324 (9.1) |
| 2014 | 253 (10.5) | 79 (8.8) | 316 (8.8) |
| 2015 | 232 (9.6) | 65 (7.3) | 260 (7.3) |
| Age group at cohort entry, years (matching variable) | |||
| 18–40 | 339 (14.1) | 87 (9.7) | 348 (9.7) |
| 41–60 | 1298 (53.9) | 507 (56.7) | 2028 (56.7) |
| 61+ | 772 (32.0) | 300 (33.6) | 1200 (33.6) |
| Median [IQR] | 56 [47–63] | 57 [49–63] | 57 [49–63] |
| Female (matching variable) | 1446 (60.0) | 555 (62.1) | 2220 (62.1) |
| White race1 | 1935 (88.0) | 725 (87.1) | 2930 (88.5) |
| Hispanic origin2 | 81 (3.7) | 33 (4.0) | 154 (4.7) |
| Opioid dose at cohort entry, MME | |||
| 50–< 90 | 1709 (70.9) | 572 (64.0) | 2587 (72.3) |
| 90–< 120 | 317 (13.2) | 134 (15.0) | 443 (12.4) |
| 120–< 150 | 150 (6.2) | 66 (7.4) | 194 (5.4) |
| 150–< 200 | 117 (4.9) | 63 (7.0) | 188 (5.3) |
| 200+ | 116 (4.8) | 59 (6.6) | 164 (4.6) |
| In year prior to cohort entry3 | In year prior to sustained taper for cases and matched follow-up time for controls | ||
| SNRI or TCA medication exposure | 1182 (49.1) | 508 (56.8) | 1804 (50.4) |
| Gabapentin or pregabalin medication exposure | 629 (26.1) | 289 (32.3) | 942 (26.3) |
| Benzodiazepine medication exposure | 1048 (43.5) | 385 (43.1) | 1466 (41.0) |
| Behavioral health treatment | 656 (27.2) | 308 (34.5) | 880 (24.6) |
| Opioid use disorder diagnosis | 249 (10.3) | 146 (16.3) | 361 (10.1) |
| Substance use disorder diagnosis | 277 (11.5) | 204 (22.8) | 412 (11.5) |
| Major depression diagnosis | 340 (14.1) | 216 (24.2) | 635 (17.8) |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis | 108 (4.5) | 50 (5.6) | 161 (4.5) |
| Count of anatomical regions with pain diagnoses, median [IQR]4 | 3 [2–4] | 3 [2–4] | 3 [2–4] |
1Race missing for n = 209 patients in full cohort (N = 62 cases, N = 267 controls); % is among non-missing
2Hispanic origin missing for n = 218 patients in full cohort (N = 63 cases, N = 285 controls); % is among non-missing
3Full cohort: 306 patients (13% of total) not enrolled or no pharmacy benefits for a full year prior to study entry (case-control: All patients had 1-year complete history prior to follow-up quarter used for matching)
4Maximum count of 11 common pain diagnoses: abdominal, arthritis, back, chest, chronic, fibromyalgia, head, limb, neck, neuropathies, and pelvic pain