Opioid Prescriptions in Older Medicare Beneficiaries After the 2014 Federal Rescheduling of Hydrocodone Products.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To examine how an October 2014 Drug Enforcement Administration policy reclassified hydrocodone product from schedule III to II has affected older adults, who are among the largest consumers of prescription opioids in the United States.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

United States.

Participants

A 20% sample of Medicare Part D beneficiaries aged 65 and older from 2013 through 2015 (> 2,500,000 beneficiaries each year) MEASUREMENTS: From January 2013 to December 2015, we calculated the monthly prevalence of opioid prescriptions and the prevalence of individuals who received prescriptions for a 90-day supply or longer (prolonged), as well as hospitalizations related to opioid toxicity in 2013 and 2015.

Results

From 2013 to 2015, the pr

SUBMITTER: Kuo YF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5992099 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature