Trends in prior receipt of prescription opioid or adjuvant analgesics among patients with incident opioid use disorder or opioid-related overdose from 2006 to 2016.

BACKGROUND

With increasing efforts to scrutinize and reduce opioid prescribing, limited data exist on the recent trend in receipt of prescription pain medications before diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) or opioid-related overdose (OD).

METHODS

Using 2005-2016 Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims databases, we assessed trends in annual 1) incidence of OUD or OD and 2) prevalence of receipt of prescription opioids or four commonly-prescribed adjuvant analgesics among patients newly diagnosed with OUD/OD. Trends were examined in the overall sample and by 3 age groups, including youths (≤18 years), adults (19-64 years), and older adults (≥65 years).

RESULTS

The incidence of diagnosed OUD or OD increased more than 3-fold from 4.99 to 23.81 per 10,000 persons from 2006 to 2016, with the highest increase (14.18-fold) seen in older adults, followed by adults (3.53-fold), and youths (0.16-fold). Between 2006 and 2016, the proportion of patients with incident OUD/OD who received anticonvulsant adjuvant analgesics in the year before diagnosis increased (from 23.4% to 34.3% [P-trend = .005]) whereas the proportion receiving high-dose prescriptions opioids decreased (from 45.5% to 34.8% [P-trend =< .001]). A decreasing trend was observed in general for tricyclic antidepressants and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors.

DISCUSSION

In US commercially insured patients newly diagnosed with OUD/OD, receipt of high-dose opioid prescriptions preceding the diagnosis decreased over time, paralleled by increased use of anticonvulsants commonly prescribed for pain conditions. Further investigations are warranted to understand how prescribed and anticonvulsants contribute to the development of OUD/OD.