Interspecialty Opioid Prescribing Patterns in Ophthalmology Following Declaration of a Public Health Emergency

Previous literature has investigated opioid prescription trends in ophthalmology at large, however, little has been done looking at differences between subspecialties. We evaluate if significant trends exist among subspecialties in opioid prescribing patterns. This study aims to illuminate potential over-usage of opioids in ophthalmology that could compromise patient quality of life. Medicare data and "National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Downloadable File" were queried for cases of ophthalmologists with nonsuppressed opioid prescription data from 2014 to 2019. Ophthalmologists with no subspecialty code or missing regional, gender, degree, or graduation information were excluded. Chi-squared analysis, analysis of variance, t-tests, and multivariate logistic regression were utilized. Five thousand one hundred forty-three physician records were included in analysis, 450 of which were by cornea subspecialists. Most cornea cases were male, graduated before 2005, and practiced in the South. All subspecialties had a significantly increased likelihood of making opioid claims and higher prescription rates compared with cornea (P < 0.050) besides glaucoma (P = 0.357). Only oculoplastics had significantly increased likelihood of greater total supply of opioids compared with cornea (odds ratio [OR] = 22.195, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 12.209-40.350, P < 0.001), while pediatrics (OR = 4.036, 95% CI = 1.377-11.831, P = 0.011) and neuro-ophthalmology (OR = 4.158, 95% CI = 1.237-13.975, P = 0.021) in addition to oculoplastics (OR = 64.380, 95% CI = 26.306-157.560, P < 0.001) were predicted to have significantly greater opioid beneficiaries. Males, the South/Midwest, and graduating before 2005, all were generally associated with increased likelihood of greater total opioid claims, supply, beneficiaries, and prescription rate (P < 0.050). Subspecialty, demographic, chronological, and regional trends exist for opioid prescribing patterns in ophthalmology.