About a quarter of all patients with ankylosing spondylitis, and more than half of those patients who were on Medicaid, received at least a 90-day supply of opioids in a year, based on an analysis of U.S. commercial claims data.
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The findings were noted in 2012-2017 data from a cohort of 11,945 patients in the Truven Health MarketScan Research database. Of those patients given the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code 720.0, which is specific for ankylosing spondylitis, 23.5% of patients chronically used opioids. In the broader 720.x commercial claims cohort of 79,190 patients, the proportion who chronically used opioids was 27.3%.
More than 60% of the patients who chronically used opioids had a cumulative drug supply of 270 days or more.
“Patients with ankylosing spondylitis receive opioids with disturbing frequency,” said study author Victor S. Sloan, MD, and research colleagues in the June issue of the Journal of Rheumatology. Ankylosing spondylitis treatment guidelines “specify use of an NSAID as initial pharmacotherapy, with anti-TNF [tumor necrosis factor] therapy in cases of NSAID inefficacy or intolerance. However, for many patients, prescription opioids – while not addressing the underlying inflammation – may offer an inexpensive and rapid means of achieving symptomatic relief.”
Patients who chronically used opioids were more likely to have depression (25.4% vs. 12.5%) and anxiety (20.9% vs. 11.7%) during the baseline period of the study. Patients with chronic opioid use also were more likely to receive muscle relaxants (54.4% vs. 20.2%) and oral corticosteroids (18.4% vs. 9.6%), compared with patients without chronic opioid use, reported Dr. Sloan, vice president and immunology development strategy lead for UCB Pharma and of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J., and colleagues.
Claims for anti-TNF therapies, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and NSAIDs were similar for patients with and without chronic opioid use.
The patients in the study had claims with the specified diagnosis codes during Jan. 1, 2013–March 31, 2016 and were enrolled in medical and pharmacy benefits for 12 months before and after the first qualifying ICD code. The study excluded patients with a history of cancer other than nonmelanoma skin cancer. Opioid claims within 7 days of a hospitalization or 2 days of an emergency department or urgent care visit were not included.
The investigators assessed patients’ demographics, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and prior treatments during a 12-month baseline period prior to the index date. They examined opioid use and exposure to other treatments during a 12-month follow-up period after the index date. They defined chronic opioid use as at least 90 cumulative days of opioid use based on the supply value on opioid pharmacy claims. They summed the days’ supply for all opioid claims during the follow-up period.
Chronic use of opioids was most pronounced in the 917 patients with Medicaid claims with 720.0 diagnosis codes; 57.1% chronically used opioids during follow-up. Among 14,041 patients with Medicaid claims with 720.x codes, 76.7% chronically used opioids.
The data suggest that some patients may receive opioids before they receive recommended therapies. “If this is the case, there may be an opportunity to prevent chronic opioid use by intervening with recommended therapies earlier in the patient’s treatment course,” the authors wrote.
Dr. Sloan and colleagues noted that they had limited information about the timing of opioid use relative to ankylosing spondylitis diagnosis, opioid potency and dose, and the indication for which opioids were prescribed.
UCB Pharma funded the study. The authors are employees of UCB Pharma.
SOURCE: Sloan VS et al. J Rheumatol. 2019 Jan 15. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.180972.