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While the opioid crisis remains a major public health problem in the United States for people of all ages, little research has been conducted on younger populations. A new study by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital examines the opioid trends prescribed for children and adolescents in an analysis of data collected between 2004 and 2017 by a major commercial insurance provider. The researchers observed a decrease in opioid prescriptions in children and adolescents, which corresponds to the previously reported trends in adult populations. Their results are published in JAMA Pediatrics.
"Previous studies have shown that between 1997 and 2012, the rate of hospitalizations related to opioid poisoning has almost doubled in American children and adolescents." It is important to understand the patterns of opioid poisoning. use of opioids in children and adolescents because their use has been associated with a risk of opioid abuse in the future, "said first author Joshua Gagne, PharmD, ScD, Brigham Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics. "We sought to examine the most recent trends in opioid prescribing among the youngest populations, this age group having been consistently under-studied."
Outpatient opioid prescription rates and long-term opioid use (three or more consecutive months) were assessed in persons 18 years of age or younger from a large baseline. commercial insurance data, Optum Clinformatics Data Mart. The database included diverse populations of 50 states with about 2.5 million individuals of this age each year. The analysis included all oral opioids used to relieve pain, with the exception of cough suppressants. The researchers then calculated the monthly prevalence of opioid prescriptions per 1,000 people for each year between 2004 and 2017.
In 2004, an average of 3 in 1,000 children and adolescents received an opioid prescription outpatient in a given month. Between 2009 and 2012, this number increased to 4 out of 1,000 before rising to 2 out of 1,000 children and adolescents in 2017. This trend was fueled by the decrease in hydrocodone asphalt prescriptions, one opioids most commonly given to children and adolescents. The oxycodone waiver remained stable over time and did not increase after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an extended release version for children in 2015.
"These results show that prescription opioids delivered to children and adolescents have been decreasing since 2012," the authors wrote. "Despite the downward trend of opioid prescriptions, the frequency of opioid use remains high because of the risks associated with these drugs in younger populations."
Explore further:
The impact of the opioid epidemic on children varies by state
More information:
Joshua J. Gagne et al., Trends in Prescribing Opioids in Children and Adolescents in a Commercially Affected Population in the United States, 2004-2017, JAMA Pediatrics (2018). DOI: 10.1001 / jamapediatrics.2018.3668
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