Prescription opioid use among disabled Medicare beneficiaries: intensity, trends, and regional variation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prescription opioid use and overdose deaths are increasing in the United States. Among disabled Medicare beneficiaries under the age of 65, the rise in musculoskeletal conditions as qualifying diagnoses suggests that opioid analgesic use may be common and increasing, raising safety concerns.

Methods

From a 40% random-sample Medicare denominator, we identified fee-for-service beneficiaries under the age of 65 and created annual enrollment cohorts from 2007 to 2011 (6.4 million person-years). We obtained adjusted, annual opioid use measures: any use, chronic use (≥ 6 prescriptions), intensity of use [daily morphine equivalent dose (MED)], and opioid prescribers per user. Geographic variation was studied across Hospital Referral Regions.

Results

Most measures

SUBMITTER: Morden NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4151179 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature