Baseline characteristics of Rhode Island residents dispensed initial opioid prescriptions, 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020¶
| Characteristics | Overall | Subsequent chronic prescription opioid use* | |
| Yes | No | ||
| N=87 055 n (%)† | N=3199 n (%)† | N=83 856 n (%)† | |
| Patient Characteristics | |||
| Age | 53 (36–66)‡ | 63 (53–73)‡ | 53 (36–65)‡ |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 50 399 (57.89) | 1850 (57.83) | 48 549 (57.90) |
| Male | 36 652 (42.10) | 1349 (42.17) | 35 303 (42.10) |
| Unknown | <5 | 0 (0.00) | <5 |
| Payment method | |||
| Private insurance | 52 491 (60.30) | 1416 (44.26) | 51 075 (60.91) |
| Medicare | 12 948 (14.87) | 881 (27.54) | 12 067 (14.39) |
| Medicaid | 10 829 (12.44) | 343 (10.72) | 10 486 (12.50) |
| Cash | 8079 (9.29) | 389 (12.16) | 7690 (9.17) |
| Workers’ compensation | 433 (0.50) | 22 (0.69) | 411 (0.49) |
| Unknown | 2275 (2.61) | 148 (4.63) | 2127 (2.54) |
| Prescription Characteristics | |||
| Opioid type | |||
| Oxycodone | 37 631 (42.23) | 1072 (33.51) | 36 559 (43.60) |
| Hydrocodone | 24 261 (27.87) | 628 (19.63) | 23 633 (28.18) |
| Tramadol | 12 590 (14.46) | 1089 (34.04) | 11 501 (13.72) |
| Codeine | 9525 (10.94) | 135 (4.22) | 9390 (11.20) |
| Morphine | 2327 (2.67) | 110 (3.44) | 2217 (2.64) |
| Hydromorphone | 494 (0.57) | 40 (1.25) | 454 (0.54) |
| Buprenorphine (pain)§ | 91 (0.10) | 61 (1.91) | 30 (0.04) |
| Methadone | 42 (0.05) | 27 (0.84) | 15 (0.02) |
| Fentanyl | 28 (0.03) | 19 (0.59) | 9 (0.01) |
| Tapentadol | 27 (0.03) | 8 (0.25) | 19 (0.02) |
| Opium | 22 (0.03) | 5 (0.16) | 17 (0.02) |
| Oxymorphone | 6 (0.01) | <5 | 5 (0.01) |
| Butorphanol | <5 | <5 | <5 |
| Pentazocine | <5 | 0 (0.00) | <5 |
| Dihydrocodeine | <5 | <5 | 0 (0.00) |
| Meperidine | <5 | <5 | <5 |
| Initial opioid prescription | |||
| Days’ supply | 4 (3–5)‡ | 10 (5–30)‡ | 4 (3–5)‡ |
| Quantity prescribed | 15 (10–20)‡ | 20 (20–60)‡ | 15 (10–20)‡ |
| MME | 22.5 (18.0–30.0)‡ | 20 (10.0–30.0)‡ | 24.0 (18.8–30.0)‡ |
| 90-day follow-up period | |||
| Total days dispensed | 5 (3–9)‡ | 85 (66–100)‡ | 5 (3–8)‡ |
| Initial MME | 23.3 (18.0–30.0)‡ | 20.0 (10.0–30.0)‡ | 25.0 (18.8–30.0)‡ |
| Final MME | 25.0 (18.0–30.0)‡ | 20.0 (10.0–40.0)‡ | 25.0 (18.8–30.0)‡ |
| Prescriber type | |||
| Physician | 38 240 (43.93) | 2105 (65.80) | 36 135 (43.09) |
| Advanced nurse | 11 973 (13.75) | 541 (16.91) | 11 432 (13.63) |
| Physician assistant | 13 077 (15.02) | 372 (11.63) | 12 705 (15.15) |
| Dental professional | 14 262 (16.38) | 22 (0.69) | 14 240 (16.98) |
| Unknown | 9503 (10.92) | 159 (4.97) | 9344 (11.14) |
*Chronic prescription opioid use defined as ≥60 days’ supply of opioids dispensed in the 90 days following the fill date of an individual’s initial opioid prescription (including the days’ supply of the initial prescription).
†Unless otherwise specified.
‡Median (IQR).
§This analysis excluded buprenorphine products only FDA-approved for medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder.
¶Initial opioid prescriptions defined as either the patient’s first opioid prescription or an opioid prescription that started at least 60 days after the patient’s previous opioid prescription ended. For patients with more than one initial opioid prescription during this period, we randomly selected one for inclusion in this analysis.
MME, morphine milligram equivalent.