Opioid Discontinuation Among Patients Receiving High-Dose Long-Term Opioid Therapy in the Veterans Health Administration.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prior opioid discontinuation studies have focused on one of two characteristics of opioid prescribing, its duration (long term vs not) or dosage (high vs low). Questions remain about the experience of patients with high-dose, long-term opioid therapy (HLOT) prescriptions who are likely to be at the highest risk for adverse events.

Objective

We address the following questions among the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients receiving HLOT: 1), How has the prevalence of discontinuation of opioids changed over time? 2), How do patient characteristics vary between those who do and do not discontinue? And 3), how does the prevalence of discontinuation vary geographically?

Design

A retrospective observational study of VHA patients with HLOT between fiscal

SUBMITTER: Minegishi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7728867 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature