Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United States
Abstract Introduction The opioid epidemic is a severe problem in the world, especially in the United States, where prescription opioid overdose accounts for a quarter of drug overdose deaths. Objective To describe psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in the Un...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Associação de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul
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| Series: | Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2237-60892020000100048&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1819157191444135936 |
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| author | Kevin Pan Shawgi Silver Charles Davis |
| author_facet | Kevin Pan Shawgi Silver Charles Davis |
| author_sort | Kevin Pan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Introduction The opioid epidemic is a severe problem in the world, especially in the United States, where prescription opioid overdose accounts for a quarter of drug overdose deaths. Objective To describe psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in the United States. Methods We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of the 2016 Medicare Part D claims data and analyzed psychiatrists’ prescriptions of: 1) opioids; 2) benzodiazepines, whose concurrent prescription with opioids can cause overdose death; 3) buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist for treating opioid addiction; 4) and naltrexone microsphere, a once-monthly injectable opioid antagonist to prevent relapse to opioid dependence. Prescribers with 11 or more claims were included in the analysis. Results In Medicare Part D in 2016, there were a total of 1,131,550 prescribers accounting for 1,480,972,766 total prescriptions and 78,145,305 opioid prescriptions, including 25,528 psychiatrists (2.6% of all prescribers) accounting for 44,684,504 total prescriptions (3.0% of all prescriptions) and 131,115 opioid prescriptions (0.2% of all opioid prescriptions). Psychiatrists accounted for 17.3% of benzodiazepine, 16.3% of buprenorphine, and 33.4% of naltrexone microsphere prescriptions. The opioid prescription rate of psychiatrists was much lower than that of all prescribers (0.3 vs 5.3%). The buprenorphine prescription rate of psychiatrists was much higher than that of all prescribers (2.3 vs. 0.1%). There was a substantial geographical variation across the United States. Conclusions The results show that, proportionally, psychiatrists have lower rates of opioid prescription and higher rates of benzodiazepine and buprenorphine prescription. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T16:04:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64450243b2c34cec8ce0d05276906a13 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2237-6089 2238-0019 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T16:04:50Z |
| publisher | Associação de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy |
| spelling | doaj.art-64450243b2c34cec8ce0d05276906a132022-12-21T18:20:36ZengAssociação de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do SulTrends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy2237-60892238-0019421485410.1590/2237-6089-2019-0015S2237-60892020000100048Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United StatesKevin PanShawgi SilverCharles DavisAbstract Introduction The opioid epidemic is a severe problem in the world, especially in the United States, where prescription opioid overdose accounts for a quarter of drug overdose deaths. Objective To describe psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in the United States. Methods We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of the 2016 Medicare Part D claims data and analyzed psychiatrists’ prescriptions of: 1) opioids; 2) benzodiazepines, whose concurrent prescription with opioids can cause overdose death; 3) buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist for treating opioid addiction; 4) and naltrexone microsphere, a once-monthly injectable opioid antagonist to prevent relapse to opioid dependence. Prescribers with 11 or more claims were included in the analysis. Results In Medicare Part D in 2016, there were a total of 1,131,550 prescribers accounting for 1,480,972,766 total prescriptions and 78,145,305 opioid prescriptions, including 25,528 psychiatrists (2.6% of all prescribers) accounting for 44,684,504 total prescriptions (3.0% of all prescriptions) and 131,115 opioid prescriptions (0.2% of all opioid prescriptions). Psychiatrists accounted for 17.3% of benzodiazepine, 16.3% of buprenorphine, and 33.4% of naltrexone microsphere prescriptions. The opioid prescription rate of psychiatrists was much lower than that of all prescribers (0.3 vs 5.3%). The buprenorphine prescription rate of psychiatrists was much higher than that of all prescribers (2.3 vs. 0.1%). There was a substantial geographical variation across the United States. Conclusions The results show that, proportionally, psychiatrists have lower rates of opioid prescription and higher rates of benzodiazepine and buprenorphine prescription.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2237-60892020000100048&lng=en&tlng=enpsychiatryaddictiongeriatric psychiatryopioidaddiction treatment |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Pan Shawgi Silver Charles Davis Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United States Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy psychiatry addiction geriatric psychiatry opioid addiction treatment |
| title | Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United States |
| title_full | Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United States |
| title_fullStr | Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United States |
| title_short | Analysis of psychiatrists’ prescription of opioid, benzodiazepine, and buprenorphine in Medicare Part D in the United States |
| title_sort | analysis of psychiatrists prescription of opioid benzodiazepine and buprenorphine in medicare part d in the united states |
| topic | psychiatry addiction geriatric psychiatry opioid addiction treatment |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2237-60892020000100048&lng=en&tlng=en |
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