1. Changes in opioid prescription duration for musculoskeletal injury associated with the North Carolina Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act.
- Author
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Wally, Meghan K, Thompson, Michael E, Odum, Susan, Kazemi, Donna M, Hsu, Joseph R, Seymour, Rachel B, and Group:, PRIMUM
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MUSCULOSKELETAL system diseases , *OPERATIVE surgery , *TREATMENT duration , *TIME series analysis , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *RESEARCH funding , *OPIOID analgesics , *MEDICAL prescriptions , *ELECTRONIC health records , *ACUTE diseases , *MEDICAL societies - Abstract
Objectives To assess whether implementation of the Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act was associated with an increase in the percentage of opioid prescriptions written for 7 days or fewer among patients with acute or postsurgical musculoskeletal conditions. Design An interrupted time-series study was conducted to determine the change in duration of opioid prescriptions associated with the STOP Act. Setting Data were extracted from the electronic health record of a large health care system in North Carolina. Subjects Patients presenting from 2016 to 2020 with an acute musculoskeletal injury and the clinicians treating them were included in an interrupted time-series study (n = 12 839). Methods Trends were assessed over time, including the change in trend associated with implementation of the STOP Act, for the percentage of prescriptions written for ≤7 days. Results Among patients with acute musculoskeletal injury, less than 30% of prescriptions were written for ≤7 days in January of 2016; by December of 2020, almost 90% of prescriptions were written for ≤7 days. Prescriptions written for ≤7 days increased 17.7% after the STOP Act was implemented (P < .001), after adjustment for the existing trend. Conclusions These results demonstrate significant potential for legislation to influence opioid prescribing behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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