Impacts of an Opioid Safety Initiative on US Veterans Undergoing Cancer Treatment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is limited research on how the opioid epidemic and consequent risk reduction policies have affected pain management among cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze how the Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI) implemented at the Veterans Health Administration affected opioid prescribing patterns and opioid-related toxicity.

Methods

We performed an interrupted time series analysis of 42 064 opioid-naïve patients treated at the Veterans Health Administration for prostate, lung, breast, and colorectal cancer from 2011 to 2016. Segmented regression was used to evaluate the impact of the OSI on the incidence of any new opioid prescriptions, high-risk prescriptions, persistent use, and pain-related emergency department (ED) visits. We compared the cumulat

SUBMITTER: Vitzthum LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9086780 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature