Abrupt Discontinuation of Long-term Opioid Therapy Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 2012-2017.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With mounting pressure to reduce opioid use, concerns exist about abrupt withdrawal of treatment for the millions of Americans using long-term opioid therapy (LTOT). However, little is known about how patients are tapered from LTOT nationally.

Objective

Measure national patterns of LTOT discontinuation and adherence to recommended tapering speed.

Design

Observational study of Medicare Part D from 2012 to 2017.

Participants

Using claims for a 20% sample of Medicare beneficiaries, we included patients on LTOT for 1 year or more, defined as those with ≥ 4 consecutive quarters with > 60 days of opioids supplied in each quarter.

Main measures

Our primary outcome was discontinuation of LTOT, defined as at least 60 consecutive days without opioids su

SUBMITTER: Neprash HT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8175547 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature