In:
Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, Wiley, Vol. 32, No. 5 ( 2023-05), p. 526-534
Abstract:
The number of patients tapered from long‐term opioid therapy (LTOT) has increased in recent years in the United States. Some patients tapered from LTOT report improved quality of life, while others face increased risks of opioid‐related hospital use. Research has not yet established how the risk of opioid‐related hospital use changes across LTOT dose and subsequent tapering. Our objective was to examine associations between recent tapering from LTOT with odds of opioid‐related hospital use. Methods Case‐crossover design using 2014–2018 health information exchange data from Indiana. We defined opioid‐related hospital use as hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits for a drug overdose, opioid abuse, and dependence. We defined tapering as a 15% or greater dose reduction following at least 3 months of continuous opioid therapy of 50 morphine milligram equivalents (MME)/day or more. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Recent tapering from LTOT was associated with increased odds of opioid‐related hospital use (OR: 1.50, 95%CI: 1.34–1.63), ED visit (OR: 1.52; 95%CI: 1.35–1.72), and inpatient hospitalization (OR: 1.40; 95%CI: 1.20–1.65). We found no evidence of heterogeneity of the effect of tapering on opioid‐related hospital use by gender, age, and race. Recent tapering among patients on a high baseline dose ( 〉 300 MME) was associated with increased odds of opioid‐related hospital use (OR: 2.95, 95% CI: 2.12–4.11, p 〈 0.001) compared to patients on a lower baseline doses. Conclusions Recent tapering from LTOT is associated with increased odds of opioid‐related hospital use.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1053-8569
,
1099-1557
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1491218-1
SSG:
15,3
Bookmarklink