Prevalence of Nonopioid and Opioid Prescriptions Among Commercially Insured Patients with Chronic Pain

Objective. The increased use of opioids to treat chronic pain in the past 20 years has led to a drastic increase in opioid prescribing in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain recommends the use of nonopioid therapy as the preferred treatment for chronic pain. This study analyzes the prevalence of nonopioid prescribing among commercially insured patients with chronic pain. Design. Data from the 2014 IBM (R) MarketScan (R) databases representing claims for commercially insured patients were used. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes were used to identify patients with chronic pain. Nonopioid prescriptions included nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), analgesics/antipyretics (e.g., acetaminophen), anticonvulsants, and antidepressant medications. The prevalence of nonopioid and opioid prescriptions was calculated by age, sex, insurance plan type, presence of a depressive or seizure disorder, and region. Results. In 2014, among patients with chronic pain, 16% filled only an opioid, 17% filled only a nonopioid prescription, and 28% filled both a nonopioid and an opioid. NSAIDs and antidepressants were the most commonly prescribed nonopioids among patients with chronic pain. Having prescriptions for only nonopioids was more common among patients aged 50-64 years and among female patients. Conclusions. This study provides a baseline snapshot of nonopioid prescriptions before the release of the CDC Guideline and can be used to examine the impact of the CDC Guideline and other evidence-based guidelines on nonopioid use among commercially insured patients with chronic pain.