Table 1.
Characteristics of Long-term Opioid Treatment Episodes 2017–2018
| N (%) | |
|---|---|
| Total | 6,060,728 (100) |
| Gender | |
| Female | 3,613,084 (59.6) |
| Male | 2,447,644 (40.4) |
| Age cohort | |
| 12–17 | 8,923 (0.1) |
| 18–25 | 65,731 (1.1) |
| 26–35 | 371,632 (6.1) |
| 36–45 | 704,189 (11.6) |
| 46–55 | 1,194,438 (19.7) |
| 56–65 | 1,603,872 (26.5) |
| 66+ | 2,111,943 (34.8) |
| Primary opioid episode payer | |
| Medicare | 2,475,988 (40.9) |
| Medicaid | 811,055 (13.4) |
| Commercial | 1,651,028 (27.2) |
| Cash | 219,166 (3.6) |
| Other | 903,491 (14.9) |
| Concomitant benzodiazepine prescription | |
| Yes | 813,211 (13.4) |
| No | 5,247,517 (86.6) |
| High-dose episode | |
| Yes | 515,621 (8.5) |
| No | 5,545,107 (91.5) |
| Naloxone co-prescribed | |
| Yes | 136,870 (2.3) |
| No | 5,923,858 (97.7) |
| Prescriber specialty | |
| PCP adult | 2,884,379 (47.6) |
| Pain specialist/anesthesia | 1,294,993 (21.4) |
| PA/NP | 1,150,098 (19.0) |
| Oncology | 158,180 (2.6) |
| Other | 573,078 (9.5) |
| Multiple opioid prescribers | |
| Yes | 3,512,959 (58.0) |
| No | 2,547,769 (42.0) |
| County urban-rural status | |
| Metropolitan | 5,084,565 (83.9) |
| Rural adjacent | 597,566 (9.9) |
| Rural remote | 378,597 (6.2) |
| Health professional shortage area | |
| Yes | 5,849,976 (96.5) |
| No | 210,752 (3.5) |