Citation

Durand Z, Nechuta S, Krishnaswami S, Hurwitz EL, McPheeters M. Ann. Epidemiol. 2019; 32: 7-13.

Affiliation

Tennessee Department of Health, Office of Informatics and Analytics, Nashville, TN; Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American College of Epidemiology, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.annepidem.2019.02.001

PMID

30853149

Abstract

PURPOSE: This is the first study in Tennessee to measure opioid use in injured workers and among the first nationally to use a prescription drug monitoring program to do so. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the prevalence of opioid use after injury and associated characteristics among workers reporting one injury to Tennessee Workers' Compensation.

METHODS: Injured workers identified in Workers' Compensation records 2013-2015 were linked to their prescription history in Tennessee's prescription drug monitoring database.

RESULTS: Among 172,256 injured workers, the prevalence of receiving an opioid after injury was 22.8% in 1 week, 29.7% in 1 month, and 33.3% in 6 months. Receiving an opioid was associated with having a fracture (odds ratio, 4.9; 95% confidence interval, 4.64-5.11 vs. other injuries). Hydrocodone short-acting was the most commonly received opioid (69.5% of injured workers), and the mean of each worker's maximum dose was 42.8 morphine milligram equivalents (SD 39.26). Ten percent of injured workers who received opioids also received a benzodiazepine.

CONCLUSIONS: Injured workers have a high prevalence of opioid use after injury, but prescribing patterns generally tend to follow Tennessee prescribing guidelines.

Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

Benzodiazepine; Injured worker; Opioid; Workers' Compensation