Influence of Opioid Prescription Policy on Overdoses and Related Adverse Effects in a Primary Care Population

Authors

Valerie S. Harder
Timothy B. Plante, Department of Medicine, The Larner College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, 89 Beaumont Ave, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Insu Koh, Department of Pathology, The Larner College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, 360 South Park Drive, Colchester, VT, 05446, USA.
Ethan B. Rogers, Department of Pediatrics, The Larner College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT, 05401, USA.
Susan E. Varni, Department of Pediatrics, The Larner College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT, 05401, USA.
Andrea C. Villanti, Department of Psychiatry, The Larner College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT, 05401, USA.
John R. Brooklyn, Department of Psychiatry, The Larner College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT, 05401, USA.
Kathleen Fairfield, Maine Medical CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2021

Institution/Department

Internal Medicine, Center for Interdisciplinary Population & Health Research, MaineHealth Institute for Research

Journal Title

Journal of general internal medicine

MeSH Headings

Adult; Analgesics, Opioid (adverse effects); Drug Prescriptions; Humans; Policy; Practice Patterns, Physicians'; Prescriptions; Primary Health Care; Vermont

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In response to the opioid epidemic, many states have enacted policies limiting opioid prescriptions. There is a paucity of evidence of the impact of opioid prescribing interventions in primary care populations, including whether unintended consequences arise from limiting the availability of prescribed opioids. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to compare changes in opioid overdose and related adverse effects rate among primary care patients following the implementation of state-level prescribing policies. DESIGN: A cohort of primary care patients within an interrupted time series model. PARTICIPANTS: Electronic medical record data for 62,776 adult (18+ years) primary care patients from a major medical center in Vermont from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2018. INTERVENTIONS: State-level opioid prescription policy changes limiting dose and duration. MAIN MEASURES: Changes in (1) opioid overdose rate and (2) opioid-related adverse effects rate per 100,000 person-months following the July 1, 2017, prescription policy change. KEY RESULTS: Among primary care patients, there was no change in opioid overdose rate following implementation of the prescribing policy (incidence rate ratio; IRR: 0.64, 95% confidence interval; CI: 0.22-1.88). There was a 78% decrease in the opioid-related adverse effects rate following the prescribing policy (IRR: 0.22, 95%CI: 0.09-0.51). This association was moderated by opioid prescription history, with decreases observed among opioid-naïve patients (IRR: 0.18, 95%CI: 0.06-0.59) and among patients receiving chronic opioid prescriptions (IRR: 0.17, 95%CI: 0.03-0.99), but not among those with intermittent opioid prescriptions (IRR: 0.51, 95%CI: 0.09-2.82). CONCLUSIONS: Limiting prescription opioids did not change the opioid overdose rate among primary care patients, but it reduced the rate of opioid-related adverse effects in the year following the state-level policy change, particularly among patients with chronic opioid prescription history and opioid-naïve patients. Limiting the quantity and duration of opioid prescriptions may have beneficial effects among primary care patients.

First Page

2013

Last Page

2020

Recommended Citation

Harder VS, Plante TB, Koh I, et al. Influence of Opioid Prescription Policy on Overdoses and Related Adverse Effects in a Primary Care Population. J Gen Intern Med. 2021;36(7):2013-2020. doi:10.1007/s11606-021-06831-4