Table 3.
Adjusted osteoarthritis medication use rates, requiring ≥2 prescription fills, by body mass index (BMI) and osteoarthritis
| BMI Category | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overweight | Class I Obese | Class II Obese | Class III Obese | |||||
| Osteoarthritis | ||||||||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
| N | 107 188 | 15 654 | 64 408 | 11 582 | 28 027 | 5934 | 18 786 | 4880 |
| Any analgesica | 16.4% (16.2‐16.6%) | 41.5% (40.7‐42.3%) | 18.8% (18.5‐19.0%) | 45.1% (44.2‐46.0%) | 21.3% (20.8‐21.7%) | 48.7% (47.5‐50.0%) | 23.7% (23.1‐24.3%) | 53.3% (52.0‐54.7%) |
| Opioids | 10.5% (10.3‐10.6%) | 28.8% (28.1‐29.5%) | 12.2% (11.9‐12.4%) | 32.2% (31.4‐33.1%) | 13.8% (13.4‐14.2%) | 35.0% (33.8‐36.2%) | 16.0% (15.5‐16.5%) | 39.3% (37.9‐40.6%) |
| NSAIDs/COX‐2 inhibitors | 5.0% (4.9‐5.1%) | 16.6% (16.0‐17.2%) | 6.2% (6.1‐6.4%) | 18.8% (18.1‐19.5%) | 7.8% (7.5‐8.1%) | 20.7% (19.7‐21.7%) | 8.7% (8.3‐9.1%) | 22.9% (21.7‐24.0%) |
| Intra‐articular inj. | 0.4% (0.4‐0.5%) | 12.1% (11.6‐12.6%) | 0.5% (0.4‐0.5%) | 14.0% (13.4‐14.6%) | 0.5% (0.4‐0.6%) | 14.6% (13.7‐15.5%) | 0.5% (0.4‐0.6%) | 16.1% (15.1‐17.1%) |
| Muscle relaxants | 2.7% (2.6‐2.8%) | 6.8% (6.4‐7.3%) | 3.3% (3.1‐3.4%) | 7.7% (7.2‐8.2%) | 3.6% (3.4‐3.9%) | 7.9% (7.2‐8.5%) | 3.8% (3.6‐4.1%) | 8.8% (8.1‐9.6%) |
| Antidepressants | 14.7% (14.5‐15.0%) | 19.5% (18.9‐20.1%) | 16.2% (15.9‐16.4%) | 21.8% (21.0‐22.5%) | 17.7% (17.3‐18.1%) | 23.5% (22.5‐24.6%) | 18.7% (18.1‐19.2%) | 24.8% (23.7‐26.0%) |
| Anticonvulsants | 4.9% (4.8‐5.1%) | 9.2% (8.8‐9.6%) | 5.9% (5.7‐6.0%) | 10.6% (10.1‐11.2%) | 6.8% (6.5‐7.1%) | 12.5% (11.7‐13.2%) | 8.0% (7.6‐8.4%) | 14.6% (13.7‐15.5%) |
| Anx./sed./hyp. | 9.5% (9.3‐9.7%) | 14.7% (14.2‐15.3%) | 9.7% (9.4‐9.9%) | 13.9% (13.3‐14.6%) | 9.6% (9.3‐10.0%) | 14.8% (13.9‐15.7%) | 9.7% (9.3‐10.1%) | 14.4% (13.4‐15.3%) |
Note. Overweight (BMI 25.0‐29.9 kg m−2); class I obese (BMI 30.0‐34.9 kg m−2); class II obese (BMI 35.0‐39.9 kg m−2); and class III obese (BMI ≥ 40 kg m−2). Medication utilization rates differed significantly between patients with vs without osteoarthritis (P < .001), and across BMI categories/by BMI (P < .001 for Wald chi‐square test of joint significance of BMI categories; P < .001 for test of trend; except for intra‐articular injections [P = .0816 for test of trend]; anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics [P = .3745 for test of trend]).
Abbreviations: Anx./sed./hyp., anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics; inj., injections; NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs.
Prescription fills for any of the following categories: opioids, NSAIDs/COX‐2 inhibitors, acetaminophen, and salicylates.