Initial Opioid Prescription and Number Needed to Harm

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pharmacology
• Health Policy

Background:

• Prescription opioids are a significant factor in the development of persistent opioid use.
• Understanding the impact of regulatory changes on prescribing patterns is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the change in long-term opioid use following a 2017 regulatory update on acute pain prescribing.
• To quantify the impact of policy interventions on opioid utilization.

Main Methods:

• Prescribing data were obtained from the Rhode Island Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP).
• The study analyzed changes in initial opioid prescription durations (≥8 days) before and after the regulatory update.
• Number Needed to Harm (NNH) was calculated for longer opioid prescriptions.

Main Results:

• The rate of initial opioid prescriptions of 8 or more days was analyzed.
• The study estimated a decrease of 111 long-term opioid users per month after the regulatory update.
• This suggests a positive impact of the policy on reducing sustained opioid use.

Conclusions:

• The 2017 regulatory update on acute pain prescribing was associated with a reduction in long-term opioid use.
• Policy interventions targeting initial prescription duration can mitigate the transition to persistent opioid use.
• Further research should explore long-term outcomes and generalizability of these findings.