Emergency department interventions cut opioid perscription rates

(HealthDay)—Most emergency department interventions aimed at cutting opioid prescribing cut the prescription rate but not the prescribed opioid quantity, according to a review published online Jan. 13 in JAMA Network Open.

Raoul Daoust, M.D., from Le Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux du Nord-de-l’Île de-Montréal, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify intervention studies aimed at reducing opioid prescriptions at emergency department discharge.

Based on 45 studies included in the meta-analysis, the researchers found a statistically significant reduction in the opioid prescription rate for both interrupted time series (ITS; six-month step change, −22.61 percent) and other study designs (odds ratio, 0.56). ITS studies showed no significant reduction in prescribed opioid quantities (six-month step change, −8.64 percent), but there was a small, significant reduction in other study designs (standardized mean difference, −0.30). Education, policies, and guideline interventions were better at reducing the opioid prescription rate in ITS studies (six-month step change, −33.31 percent) versus prescription drug monitoring programs and laws (six-month step change, −11.18 percent). Prescribed opioid quantities were not reduced by most intervention categories.

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