The Effectiveness of Stewardship Interventions to Reduce the Prescribing of Extended-Release Opioids for Acute Pain: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of stewardship interventions in reducing the prescribing of extended-release opioids for acute pain.

DESIGN

Systematic review of randomized controlled trials, pre-post intervention studies, cohort studies and case-control studies.

METHODS

A search was conducted using Medline, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and PsycINFO from inception to March 24, 2019. Search terms included opioids, interventions, extended-release, and acute pain. Included articles were original research articles outlining the impact of stewardship interventions on reducing the prescribing of extended-release opioids for acute pain.

RESULTS

The search resulted in 1,264 articles after the removal of duplicates. Of these, 141 full texts were assessed, with three eligible for inclusion. One additional article was obtained via a manual search. Three studies explored forcing function interventions; two included prior authorization policies, which saw decreases in extended-release/long-acting scripts by 18-36%, while another evaluated order restrictions producing increased adherence to guidelines by 36%. One study explored the impact of education targeting prescribers and patients through a risk mitigation and evaluation strategy, which decreased extended-release/long-acting quarterly script volumes by 4.3%. All studies were performed at system levels. Forcing function interventions decreased extended-release/long-acting prescriptions and increased adherence to guidelines to a greater extent than less restrictive interventions such as education.

CONCLUSIONS

Forcing function interventions implemented at system levels show promise in decreasing the prescribing of extended-release opioids for acute pain. The current lack of literature warrants future research to increase understanding of the effectiveness of such interventions.