Table 1:
Patient characteristics according to opioid dose trajectory in 12 months after the end of high-dose chronic opioid therapy (COT)
| Total | Abrupt discontinuation | Dose reduction and discontinuation | Dose reduction without discontinuation | Stable or increasing dose | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | 14,596 | 4,191 (28.7%) | 1,648 (11.3%) | 6,480 (44.4%) | 2,277 (15.6%) |
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | ||
| Average MME during chronic opioid therapy | 129.85 (403.29) | 146.08 (735.53) | 142.13 (114.96) | 125.51 (103.08) | 103.46 (76.49) |
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Top 5 drug types in COT (n, % of prescriptions) | 259,678 (100.0%) | 72,590 (28.0%) | 33,920 (13.1%) | 113,347 (43.6%) | 39,821 (15.3%) |
| Oxycodone HCL | 85,714 (33.0%) | 25,809 (35.5%) | 13,791 (40.7%) | 34,896 (30.8%) | 11,218 (28.2) |
| Hydrocodone / Acetaminophen | 47,039 (18.1%) | 11,092 (15.3%) | 4,299 (12.7%) | 22,328 (19.7%) | 9,320 (23.4%) |
| Morphine Sulfate | 41,705 (16.1%) | 11,602 (16.0%) | 5,032 (14.8%) | 18,761 (16.6%) | 6,310 (15.9%) |
| Methadone HCL | 26,860 (10.3%) | 8,230 (11.3%) | 3,417 (10.1%) | 11,542 (10.2%) | 3,671 (9.2%) |
| Oxycodone HCL / Acetaminophen | 26,213 (10.1%) | 6,598 (9.1%) | 3,128 (9.2%) | 11,671 (10.3%) | 4,816 (12.1%) |
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Benzodiazepine filled | 6,447 (44.2%) | 1,870 (44.6%) | 764 (46.4%) | 2,856 (44.1%) | 957 (42.0%) |
| Multiple prescriber episode during chronic opioid therapy | 3,000 (20.6%) | 889 (21.2%) | 542 (32.9%) | 1,166 (18.0%) | 403 (17.7%) |
| Multiple pharmacy episode during chronic opioid therapy | 1,433 (9.8%) | 463 (11.1%) | 272 (16.5%) | 556 (8.6%) | 142 (6.2%) |
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Female | 8,766 (60.0%) | 2,372 (56.6%) | 917 (55.6%) | 4,081 (63.0%) | 1,396 (61.3%) |
| Rural | 7,113 (48.7%) | 2,038 (48.6%) | 804 (48.8%) | 3,213 (49.6%) | 1,058 (46.5%) |
| Age | |||||
| 0–29 | 459 (3.1%) | 179 (4.3%) | 89 (5.4%) | 140 (2.2%) | 51 (2.2%) |
| 30–39 | 1,828 (12.5%) | 619 (14.8%) | 306 (18.6%) | 676 (10.4%) | 227 (10.0%) |
| 40–49 | 2,803 (19.2%) | 895 (21.4%) | 371 (22.5%) | 1,154 (17.8%) | 383 (16.8%) |
| 50–59 | 4,865 (33.3%) | 1,308 (31.2%) | 533 (32.3%) | 2,224 (34.3%) | 800 (35.1%) |
| 60+ | 4,641 (31.8%) | 1,190 (28.4%) | 349 (21.2%) | 2,286 (35.3%) | 816 (35.8%) |
| Race | |||||
| White | 11,285 (77.3%) | 3,242 (77.4%) | 1,215 (73.7%) | 5,089 (78.5%) | 1,739 (76.4%) |
| Black | 441 (3.0%) | 90 (2.1% | 39 (2.4%) | 207 (3.2%) | 105 (4.6%) |
| Other* | 693 (4.7%) | 180 (4.3%) | 98 (6.0%) | 304 (4.7%) | 111 (4.9%) |
| Unknown* | 2,177 (14.9%) | 679 (16.2%) | 296 (18.0%) | 880 (13.6%) | 322 (14.1%) |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Alcohol abuse | 205 (1.4%) | 76 (1.8%) | 45 (2.7%) | 69 (1.1%) | 15 (0.7%) |
| Depression | 994 (6.8%) | 290 (6.9%) | 151 (9.2%) | 417 (6.4%) | 136 (6.0%) |
| Drug abuse | 774 (5.3%) | 301 (7.2%) | 160 (9.7%) | 229 (3.5%) | 84 (3.7%) |
| Chronic pain | 6,119 (41.9%) | 1,792 (41.8%) | 887 (53.8%) | 2,483 (38.3%) | 957 (42.0%) |
HCL: hydrochloride
*
Unknown race includes missing, refused, and unknown. Other race includes all other racial categories.