Risks of opioid overdose among New York State Medicaid recipients with chronic pain before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to healthcare disruptions for patients with chronic pain. Following initial disruptions, national policies were enacted to expand access to long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment services, which may have modified risk of opioid overdose. We examined associations between LTOT and/or OUD with fatal and non-fatal opioid overdoses, and whether the pandemic moderated overdose risk in these groups.

Methods

We analyzed New York State Medicaid claims data (3/1/2019-12/31/20) of patients with chronic pain (N = 236,391). We used generalized estimating equations models to assess associations between LTOT and/or OUD (neither LTOT or OUD [ref], LTOT only, OUD only, and LTOT and OUD) and the pand

SUBMITTER: Mannes ZL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10842754 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature