Skip to main content

Recent Reduction Seen in Opioid Prescribing by Surgeons

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 18, 2024.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Jan. 18, 2024 -- Opioid prescribing by surgeons decreased between 2013 and 2017, according to a study published online Jan. 16 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Apostolos Gaitanidis, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues used Medicare Part D data (2013 to 2017) to calculate the mean number of opioid prescriptions per beneficiary (OPBs) for each U.S. county. The analysis included 1,969 of 3,006 U.S. counties (65.5 percent) for opioid prescription data and 1,384 of 3,006 counties for opioid-related deaths (46 percent).

The researchers found that nationwide, the mean OPBs decreased from 1.08 in 2013 to 0.87 in 2017, with 81.6 percent of counties showing the decreasing trend. A lower median population age, higher percentages of bachelor’s degree holders, higher percentages of adults reporting insufficient sleep, higher health care costs, fewer mental health providers, and higher percentages of uninsured adults were county-level variables associated with higher OPBs.

"It is likely that in counties with restricted health care access, due to higher health care costs, lack of insurance coverage, and decreased availability of mental health providers, patients may receive more postoperative opioids as they might not be able to easily obtain additional opioid pills should they need to, or, more likely, that the higher opioid prescribing is masking an unaddressed overall health and mental health burden in this patient population," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

ASCO: Neoadjuvant Ipilimumab + Nivolumab Ups Survival in Resectable Melanoma

WEDNESDAY, June 5, 2024 -- Neoadjuvant ipilimumab plus nivolumab followed by surgery results in longer event-free survival than surgery followed by adjuvant nivolumab among...

Odds of Death Lower With Surgery for Hip Fracture in Patients With Dementia

MONDAY, June 3, 2024 -- For community-dwelling patients with dementia and fracture of the femoral head and neck, the odds of death are lower for those treated surgically...

Emergency Inguinal Hernia Surgery Rates Increased With Lower Country Income

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- For patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery, emergency surgery rates increase from high- to low-income countries, according to a study published online...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.