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Opioid-Prescribing Trends in San Diego County, 2008-2019
Joshua R Smith1, Sarah Salven, Christian K Beÿ
1Emergency Medical Services (Drs Smith and Koenig and Mr Beÿ) and Public Health Services (Dr Thihalolipavan), Health & Human Services Agency, County of San Diego, San Diego, California; San Diego State University, San Diego, California (Ms Salven); Emergency Department, Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego, California (Dr Lev).
Opioid prescriptions in San Diego County surged until 2012, then sharply declined by 2019. This trend highlights the impact of focused interventions on prescription opioid use.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Opioid overdoses caused over 70,000 deaths in the US in 2019, with prescription opioids implicated in 28% of these fatalities.
- Addressing the impact of prescription medications is crucial amid the ongoing opioid epidemic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine opioid prescription pattern trends in San Diego County from 2008 to 2019.
- To contextualize these trends with local, state, and national milestones.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of annual Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) data for San Diego County.
- Prescribing data aggregated by formulation and strength, converted to morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per person.
- Inclusion of timeline of key events to contextualize trends.
Main Results:
- Total opioid prescriptions per person increased by 29.7% from 2008 to 2012.
- Subsequently, total MME per person decreased by 54.4% from 2012 to 2019, averaging a 5.9% annual decrease.
- A significant 35.1% reduction in MME occurred between 2017 and 2019, indicating accelerated decline.
Conclusions:
- Opioid prescribing in San Diego County showed two distinct periods between 2008 and 2019.
- These trends demonstrate the potential effectiveness of multi-level interventions in curbing prescription opioid impact.
- The findings offer a model for addressing prescription opioid misuse within the broader opioid epidemic.
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