Association between psychotropic drug use and prescription opioid use among older adults

This study investigated the association between psychotropic drug use and prescription opioid use/high dosage opioid use among older adults. A sample of 203,750 older adults enrolled in Pennsylvania's Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) program during 2017 was evaluated for prescription opioid and psychotropic drug usage. High dosage opioid use was defined as using >90 morphine milligram equivalents (MME)/day for ≥90 consecutive days. Overall, 20.7% of enrollees filled opioid prescriptions, of which 1.4% used them at high dosages. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that the odds of prescription opioid use increased with anxiolytic/sedative/hypnotic use and antidepressant use. Moreover, high dosage opioid use was significantly associated with anxiolytic/sedative/hypnotic use, antidepressant use and other factors including being younger, male, white, and married but living separately, and having multiple opioid prescribers. Clinicians should carefully evaluate opioid use among older patients using anxiolytics or antidepressants to minimize risks for adverse consequences of opioids.