Opioid Use Disorder News—October 2017 Update

The following items highlight important news and publications about medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and opioid use disorder (OUD):

Department of Health and Human Services News and Publications

• Implementing Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Primary Care: Environmental Scan (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)—a new AHRQ report examines factors that may limit access to MAT for OUD in rural primary care settings. Peer-reviewed articles and grey literature on implementing MAT for OUD were examined. The report also includes links to and descriptions of nearly 250 tools and resources to support the delivery of MAT in rural primary care settings.

• Patient Characteristics of Opioid-Related Inpatient Stays and Emergency Department Visits Nationally and by State, 2014 (AHRQ)—this brief presents data from 2005 to 2014 on the rate of opioid-related hospital inpatient stays and emergency department visits, further examining data by gender and age. Access AHRQ’s new online, interactive map that highlights State-specific trends in opioid-related hospital care.

• Vital Signs: Changes in Opioid Prescribing in the United States, 2006-2015 (link is external) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)—this report finds that, despite reductions in opioid prescription rates in some parts of the country, the amount of opioids prescribed varies widely at the county level and still remains high nationwide. Access the accompanying fact sheet, Opioid Prescribing: Where You Live Matters (link is external).

• Opioids in Medicare Part D: Concerns About Extreme Use and Questionable Prescribing (link is external) (Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General)—this brief analyzes opioid use among Medicare Part D beneficiaries, highlighting practices of “doctor shopping,” beneficiaries receiving extreme amounts of opioids, and providers’ questionable patterns of opioid prescribing.

• Testimony on the Federal Response to the Opioid Crisis (link is external) (Department of Health and Human Services)—this testimony summarizes the statements of witnesses from the Department of Health and Human Services who appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee regarding the opioid crisis in the United States and the Federal response.

• State and Substate Estimates of Nonmedical Use of Prescription Pain Relievers (link is external) (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)—this report highlights estimates of nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers among individuals age 12 and over based on data from the combined 2012 to 2014 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.

Peer-Reviewed Literature

• Prescription Opioid Use, Misuse, and Use Disorders in U.S. Adults: 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (link is external)(Annals of Internal Medicine)—this study finds more than one-third of civilian, noninstitutionalized adults in the U.S. used prescription opioids in 2015, a substantial number of which who also reported misuse and use disorders. Learn more about the reasons offered for opioid misuse in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report Why Do Adults Misuse Prescription Drugs? (link is external)

• Wide Variation and Overprescription of Opioids After Elective Surgery (link is external) (Annals of Surgery)—this study examines opioid prescribing practices for adult patients undergoing elective surgery. It finds that most patients were overprescribed opioids and that significant prescribing variation exists not explained by patient factors.

• Prescription Opioid Use Among Adults With Mental Health Disorders in the United States (link is external) (Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine)—this study highlights that adults with mental health conditions receive more than half of all opioids prescribed in the United States, concluding that pain management for this population needs greater attention.

• Ten Steps the Federal Government Should Take Now To Reverse the Opioid Addiction Epidemic (link is external) (JAMA)—this article recommends 10 actions for the Federal Government to take to prevent opioid addiction and overdoses and to treat people who currently abuse opioids.

• Contribution of Opioid-Involved Poisoning to the Change in Life Expectancy in the United States, 2000-2015 (link is external) (JAMA)—this analysis finds that, between 2000 and 2015, life expectancy increased overall but drug-poisoning deaths, mostly related to opioids, contributed a loss of 0.28 years.

• Collaborative Care for Opioid and Alcohol Use Disorders in Primary Care: The SUMMIT Randomized Clinical Trial (link is external) (JAMA Internal Medicine)—this clinical trial aims to determine whether a collaborative care intervention improves access to treatment for opioid and alcohol use disorders and abstinence-related outcomes.

• Buprenorphine for the Treatment of the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (link is external) (New England Journal of Medicine)—this study concludes that infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome who were treated with sublingual buprenorphine had significantly shorter durations of treatment and length of hospital stays than those who were treated with morphine.