Unintended Prolonged Opioid Use: Protocol for a Case-Controlled Trial.

Area of Science:

• Clinical Research
• Public Health
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Opioid misuse is a significant public health concern.
• Unintended prolonged opioid use (UPOU) can occur even with appropriate short-term prescriptions for opioid-naive patients.
• Lack of understanding of UPOU development hinders prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate patient, practice environment, and prescriber characteristics that influence UPOU.
• To develop a framework for understanding and preventing UPOU.
• To identify at-risk patients for early intervention.

Main Methods:

• Prospective case-control design matching patients with and without UPOU.
• Assessment of patient characteristics, clinician prescribing patterns, and practice environments.
• Structural equation modeling and analysis of national administrative claims data.

Main Results:

• Patient and clinician recruitment was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with most data collected at Mayo Clinic.
• Data analysis is ongoing to identify key factors contributing to UPOU.
• The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of UPOU development.

Conclusions:

• Future work will leverage electronic health records to identify patients at risk for UPOU.
• Development of direct-to-patient educational materials is planned to raise awareness of UPOU risk factors.
• The study seeks to inform clinical practice and public health initiatives to mitigate opioid misuse.