Opioid Prescribing Patterns among Retina Specialists in the United States

To determine the opioid prescribing patterns among retina specialists and to assess predictors for high-volume prescribing.

Retrospective cohort study.

American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) members in the 2013 through 2016 Medicare Part D Prescriber database.

American Society of Retina Specialists members within the United States were profiled from the ASRS member directory as of April 2019. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare Part D Prescriber Public Use Files for 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 were accessed. Data were collected and analyzed regarding the prescribing patterns for opioid drugs for all participating ASRS members.

Mean number of opioid prescriptions written annually by retina specialists, prescriber rates compared with all prescriptions written, and geographic distribution of opioid prescriptions written by retina specialists.

The authors identified 1518 ASRS members in the Medicare database in 2016. Members had written a total of 14 127 prescriptions in 2016, with 66% of members writing at least 1 opioid prescription. On average, members wrote 11 opioid prescriptions per year. Almost one fifth (21%) wrote more than 10 prescriptions annually. A minority (6%) wrote more than 50 prescriptions. Among those writing more than 10 prescriptions annually, approximately 35 opioid prescriptions were written annually with a mean supply of 4 days. Using multivariate analysis, the factors associated with increased number of opioid prescriptions were male gender (β = 2.80; P < 0.001), a practice location in the South (β = 5.61; P < 0.001), and larger patient panel size (β = 0.029; P < 0.001). The total number of opioid prescriptions, including refills, written by members also decreased by 18% from 2013 to 2016 (P < 0.001).

American Society of Retina Specialists members prescribed opioids at a rate (1.5%) lower than the national mean of all prescribers across all medical specialties (6.8%). Male gender and a practice location in the South were correlated to number of prescriptions. Further research is needed to elucidate the appropriate indications for the prescription of opioids among retina specialists.