Citation

Lopes SS, Shi L, Sivaraj LB, Truong K, Rolke L, Heavner SF, Basco W. Acad. Pediatr. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Academic Pediatric Association, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.acap.2022.02.021

PMID

35257927

Abstract

To examine dispensed opioid prescription patterns for limb fractures across racial/ethnic groups in a pediatric population METHOD: : We used South Carolina's Medicaid claims data 2000-2018 for pediatric limb fracture cases (under age 19) discharged from the emergency department. The key independent variable was the child's race/ethnicity. The outcomes were: 1) whether the patient had a dispensed opioid prescription; and 2) whether dispensed opioid supply was longer than 5 days among cases with any dispensed opioid prescriptions. Logistic regression models were used to test the association between race/ethnicity and the outcomes. Covariates included age-at-service, gender, service year, and having multiple fracture injuries RESULTS: : Compared with non-Hispanic White cases (NHW), the odds of receiving dispensed opioid prescriptions were lower for cases of non-Hispanic Black (NHB) (OR=0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI]:0.71, 0.75), Asian (OR=0.69; CI:0.53, 0.90), Other/Unknown (OR=0.86; CI:0.80, 0.92), and Hispanic (OR=0.84; CI:0.79, 0.90) race/ethnicity. The odds of receiving >5 days of dispensed opioid prescription supply did not differ significantly among race/ethnic categories CONCLUSION: : Our study confirms previous findings that as compared to NHW, the NHB children were less likely to receive dispensed opioid prescriptions. Also, it reveals that the different minority race/ethnic groups are not homogenous in their likelihoods of receiving dispensed opioid prescriptions after a limb fracture compared to NHW-findings underreported in previous studies.

Language: en

Keywords

Medicaid; Dispensed Opioid prescription; limb fractures; pediatric population