Association of Geography and Access to Health Care Providers With Long-Term Prescription Opioid Use in Medicare Patients With Severe Osteoarthritis: A Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the variation in long-term opioid use in osteoarthritis (OA) patients according to geography and health care access. METHODS:We designed an observational cohort study among OA patients undergoing total joint replacement (TJR) in the Medicare program (2010 through 2014). The independent variables of interest were the state of residence and health care access, which was quantified at the primary care service area (PCSA) level as categories of number of practicing primary care providers (PCPs) and categories of rheumatologists per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries. The percentage of OA patients taking long-term opioids (≥90 days in the 360-day period immediately preceding TJR) within each PCSA was the outcome variable in a multilevel, generalized linear regression model, adju

SUBMITTER: Desai RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6483834 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature