The association between patient characteristics and the odds of being prescribed an opioid and the morphine milligram equivalent (MME) dose of opioid prescribed
| Characteristic | Odds of prescribing an opioid for the 65 012 patients | MME opioid dose prescribed for the 9870 patients who received an opioid prescription | ||||||
| N patients (%) | N patients with opioid (%) | OR (95% CI) | P value | N patients (%) | Mean (SD) | Estimated difference (95% CI) | P value | |
| Type of chronic pain problem | ||||||||
| Migraine, headache | 7348 (11.3) | 509 (6.9) | 0.3 (0.30 to 0.36) | <0.001 | 509 (5.2) | 22.5 (15.2) | −3.6 (−5.2 to −2.0) | <0.001 |
| Neuropathic pain disorders | 4682 (7.2) | 513 (11.0) | 0.6 (0.49 to 0.61) | <0.001 | 513 (5.2) | 38.1 (54.2) | 10.4 (2.8 to 18.1) | 0.007 |
| Osteo-rheumatoid pain | 7253 (11.2) | 449 (6.2) | 0.4 (0.35 to 0.46) | <0.001 | 449 (4.5) | 21.9 (28.1) | −2.5 (−5.3 to 0.3) | 0.080 |
| Back, neck lumbar pain | 45 729 (70.3) | 8399 (18.4) | Reference | 8399 (85.1) | 27.3 (36.2) | Reference | ||
| Sex | ||||||||
| Female | 42 644 (65.6) | 6203 (14.5) | Reference | 6203 (62.8) | 25.9 (33.4) | Reference | ||
| Male | 22 368 (34.4) | 3667 (16.4) | 1.0 (0.97 to 1.06) | 0.506 | 3667 (37.2) | 30.0 (40.7) | 2.3 (0.8 to 3.9) | 0.003 |
| Race | ||||||||
| Asian | 2966 (4.6) | 320 (10.8) | 0.8 (0.72 to 0.92) | 0.001 | 320 (3.2) | 21.1 (27.0) | −2.6 (−6.5 to 1.3) | 0.190 |
| Black | 6777 (10.4) | 1081 (16.0) | 0.9 (0.85 to 0.99) | 0.035 | 1081 (11.0) | 29.4 (39.2) | −5.1 (−9.3 to −0.9) | 0.017 |
| Hispanic | 3553 (5.5) | 430 (12.1) | 0.8 (0.69 to 0.85) | <0.001 | 430 (4.4) | 23.4 (36.5) | −3.5 (−6.8 to −0.3) | 0.032 |
| North American Native | 228 (0.4) | 36 (15.8) | 0.9 (0.64 to 1.35) | 0.695 | 36 (0.4) | 29.6 (58.5) | 2.6 (−13.2 to 18.4) | 0.745 |
| Other race | 2542 (3.9) | 301 (11.8) | 0.8 (0.72 to 0.90) | <0.001 | 301 (3.0) | 23.3 (25.6) | −3.1 (−6.7 to 0.5) | 0.090 |
| White | 48 946 (75.3) | 7702 (15.7) | Reference | 7702 (78.0) | 27.8 (36.4) | Reference | ||
| Insurance group | ||||||||
| 65+ | 51 631 (79.4) | 7395 (14.3) | Reference | 7395 (74.9) | 23.3 (23.6) | Reference | ||
| Disabled | 13 381 (20.6) | 2475 (18.5) | 1.3 (1.18 to 1.39) | <0.001 | 2475 (25.1) | 39.6 (58.4) | 8.2 (4.6 to 11.7) | <0.001 |
| Evaluation visit was in the emergency | ||||||||
| Yes | 4638 (7.1) | 1092 (23.5) | 1.7 (1.59 to 1.93) | <0.001 | 1092 (11.1) | 29.1 (14.0) | 5.1 (3.6 to 6.6) | <0.001 |
| No | 60 374 (92.9) | 8778 (14.5) | Reference | 8778 (88.9) | 27.2 (38.2) | Reference | ||
| Acute care in the 6 months pre-evaluation | ||||||||
| Emergency department visit | 19 379 (29.8) | 2996 (15.5) | 1.0 (0.92 to 1.02) | 0.262 | 2996 (30.4) | 26.9 (35.7) | −0.6 (−2.4 to 1.2) | 0.528 |
| No emergency department visit | 45 633 (70.2) | 6874 (15.1) | Reference | 6874 (69.6) | 27.6 (36.6) | Reference | ||
| Hospitalisation | 7630 (11.7) | 1202 (15.8) | 1.1 (1.05 to 1.22) | 0.002 | 1202 (12.2) | 28.1 (35.1) | 5.3 (2.8 to 7.7) | <0.001 |
| No hospitalisation | 57 382 (88.3) | 8668 (15.1) | Reference | 8668 (87.8) | 27.3 (36.5) | Reference | ||
| Age at evaluation visit (per 10 years) | 1.0 (0.98 to 1.03) | 0.663 | −1.6 (−2.6 to −0.5) | 0.003 | ||||
| 20–65 years old | 16 456 (25.3) | 3118 (18.9) | 3118 (31.6) | 38.6 (56.0) | ||||
| 66–70 years old | 14 807 (22.8) | 2028 (13.7) | 2028 (20.5) | 24.6 (24.1) | ||||
| 71–80 years old | 20 970 (32.3) | 2848 (13.6) | 2848 (28.9) | 22.0 (16.2) | ||||
| More than 80 years old | 12 779 (19.7) | 1876 (14.7) | 1876 (19.0) | 20.1 (20.0) | ||||