Brief Report: Population-Based Reversal of the Adverse Impact of Opioids on Disability in Washington State Workers’ Compensation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Franklin GM ; Fulton-Kehoe D ; Mai J ; Mercier M ; Sears JM ; Tuman D ; Wickizer T
• Description:
  Background: Evidence has associated opioid use initiated early in a workers' compensation claim with subsequent disability. In 2013, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (DLI) implemented procedures based on new regulations that require improvement in pain and function to approve opioids beyond the acute pain period. Methods: We measured opioid prescriptions between 6 and 12 weeks following injury, an indicator of persistent opioid use. Actuarial data for the association of any opioid use versus no opioid use with development of lost time payments are reported. Results: Prior authorization with hard stops led to a sustained drop in persistent opioid use, from nearly 5% in 2013 to less than 1% in 2017. This reduction was also associated with reversal of the increased lost work time patterns seen from 1999 to 2010. Conclusions: Prior authorization targeted at preventing transition to chronic opioid use can prevent and reverse adverse time loss development that has occurred on a population basis concomitant with the opioid epidemic. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biopharmaceutics Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Analgesics Author Keywords: Disability Injuries Lost Work Days Opioids Pain Tolerance Pharmaceuticals Prior Authorization Workers Compensation
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  168-174
• Volume:
  62
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055179
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2019 Feb; 62(2):168-174
• Contact Point Address:
  Gary M. Franklin, MD, MPH, Department of Health Services, University of Washington, 130 Nickerson St, Suite 212, Seattle, WA 98109
• Email:
  meddir@uw.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:348ca4bdd8da8b1bd524a4e243b9cbe2c79d718fee977faa75f8985ea02a1f77430814b67a8dc0b7970e505b056a19368381f24c8051cd251e57f982958bf82e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217539/cdc_217539_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 610.92 KB ]