Prescription Opioid Overdose and Adverse Effect Hospitalisations Among Injured Workers in Eight States (2010–2014)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Franklin GM ; Fulton-Kehoe D ; Hogg-Johnson S ; Sears JM ; Sterling RA
• Description:
  Objective: High-risk opioid prescribing practices in workers' compensation (WC) settings are associated with excess opioid-related morbidity, longer work disability and higher costs. This study characterises the burden of prescription opioid-related hospitalisations among injured workers. Methods: Hospital discharge data for eight states (Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Utah and Washington) were obtained from the State Inpatient Databases, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. We calculated 5-year (2010-2014) average annual rates of prescription opioid overdose/adverse effect (AE) hospitalisations. Injured workers were identified using payer (WC) and external cause codes. Results: State-level average annual prescription opioid overdose/AE hospitalisation rates ranged from 0.3 to 1.2 per 100,000 employed workers. Rates for workers aged >/=65 years old were two to six times the overall rates. Among those hospitalised with prescription opioid overdose/AEs, injured workers were more likely than other inpatients to have a low back disorder diagnosis, and less likely to have an opioid dependence/abuse or cancer diagnosis, or a fatal outcome. Averaged across states, WC was the primary expected payer for <1% of prescription opioid overdose/AE hospitalisations vs 6% of injury hospitalisations. Conclusions: Population-based estimates of prescription opioid morbidity are almost nonexistent for injured workers; this study begins to fill that gap. Rates for injured workers increased markedly with age but were low relative to inpatients overall. Research is needed to assess whether WC as payer adequately identifies work-related opioid morbidity for surveillance purposes, and to further quantify the burden of prescription opioid-related morbidity. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Aging Biopharmaceutics Economics Hazardous Substances Morbidity Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Substance-Related Disorders
• Keywords:
  Age Factors Age Groups Costs Drug Abuse Drugs Economic Impact Hazardous Drugs Health Effects Injuries Low Back Disorders Low Back Pain Medical Records Medical Treatment Morbidity Rates Pharmaceuticals Prescription Drugs Surveillance Workers Workers Compensation

  More +
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  439-445
• Volume:
  77
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059994
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2020 Jul; 77(7):439-445
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Jeanne M. Sears, Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
• Email:
  jeannes@uw.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20180901
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20200831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b3b5d16a1d9e413aaac6fb70a59001357e20b3ca1a539e59f14790500deda303f57cef012ef5020390de597c2e0c4759091db72aada192c63146491adb68babc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224040/cdc_224040_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 275.28 KB ]