Impact of the extended-release/long-acting opioid analgesics risk evaluation and mitigation strategy on prescribing practices.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of extended-release (ER)/long-acting (LA) opioid prescriber training on prescribing behaviors.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Prescriber training was evaluated from June 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016. The full study period was 2 years longer, from June 1, 2012 through December 31, 2017, to include data for all prescribers' 1-year pretraining and post-training periods.

PARTICIPANTS

24,428 prescribers who wrote ER/LA opioid prescriptions for eligible patients, with a record of training from the partner continuing education provider between June 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016.

INTERVENTION: ER/LA opioid prescriber training.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prescribing behaviors 1-year before (pretraining) and after (post-training) prescribers completed training, specifically the proportion of opioid-nontolerant patients receiving ER/LA opioids indicated for opioid-tolerant patients and for patients receiving ≥100 morphine equivalents dose daily, and the proportion of concomitant users of central nervous system depressant drugs.

RESULTS

The differences in the proportion of opioid-nontolerant patients receiving ER/LA opioids indicated for opi-oid-tolerant patients and for patients receiving ≥100 morphine equivalents dose daily were -0.69 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI]: -1.78 percent, 0.40 percent) and -0.23 percent (95 percent CI: -1.18 percent, 0.68 percent), respectively. The differences in the proportion of concomitant users of central nervous system depressant drugs were -0.94 percent (95 percent CI: -1.39 percent; -0.48 percent) for benzodiazepines, 0.06 percent (95 percent CI: -0.13 percent; 0.25 percent) for antipsychotics, -0.41 percent (95 percent CI: -0.69 percent; -0.13 percent) for hypnotics/sedatives, and 0.08 percent (95 percent CI: -0.40 percent; 0.57 percent) for muscle relaxants.

CONCLUSIONS

While prescribers showed some changes in prescribing behavior after completing training, training was not associated with clinically relevant changes in prescribing behaviors.