Sources of prescription opioids among diagnosed opioid abusers

Figures & data

Figure 1. Possible sources of prescription opioids among abusers. N = 9291. Abusers were defined as patients with a diagnosis for opioid abuse or dependence. Family members were identified as any individuals with the same family ID as the abuser. Some of the abusers with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid (79.9%) also had family members with claims for a prescription opioid.

Table 1. Possible sources of prescription opioids among abusers, non-abusers, opioid-dependent patients, and abusers excluding those prescribed buprenorphine.

			Sensitivity analyses
	[A] Abusers N = 9291	[B] Non-abusers N = 395,901	[C] Opioid-dependent patients N = 7141	[D] Abusers excluding those prescribed buprenorphine N = 8546
Individual with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid	7422 (79.9%)	170,869 (42.3%)	5745 (80.5%)	6677 (78.1%)
Individual with no prior claim for a prescription opioid	1869 (20.1%)	225,032 (56.8%)	1396 (20.1%)	1869 (21.9%)
Family member with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid	950 (10.2%)	94,896 (24.0%)	669 (9.4%)	950 (11.1%)
Family member with no prior claim for a prescription opioid	919 (9.9%)	130,136 (32.9%)	727 (10.2%)	919 (10.8%)

Abusers were defined as patients with a diagnosis for opioid abuse or dependence. Non-abusers were defined as patients with no diagnoses for opioid abuse or dependence. Opioid-dependent patients were defined as abusers who had a diagnosis for opioid dependence on their index date. Family members were identified as any individuals with the same family ID as the abuser.

Table 2. Types of prescription opioids obtained by individuals and their family member(s).

	Total sample	IR/SA opioid(s) only		ER/LA opioid(s) only		IR/SA and ER/LA opioids
	N	N	%	N	%	N	%
A. Abusers
Individual with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid	7422	4932	66.5%	33	0.4%	2457	33.1%
Family member(s) with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid (but individual did not)	950	866	91.2%	4	0.4%	80	8.4%
B. Non-abusers
Individual with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid	170,869	165,288	96.7%	185	0.1%	5396	3.2%
Family member(s) with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid (but individual did not)	94,896	91,589	96.5%	83	0.1%	3224	3.4%
C. Sensitivity analysis: opioid-dependent patients
Individual with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid	5745	3774	65.7%	26	0.5%	1945	33.9%
Family member(s) with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid (but individual did not)	669	610	91.2%	4	0.6%	55	8.2%
D. Sensitivity analysis: abusers excluding those prescribed buprenorphine
Individual with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid	6677	4415	66.1%	33	0.5%	2229	33.4%
Family member(s) with ≥1 prior claim for a prescription opioid (but individual did not)	950	866	91.2%	4	0.4%	80	8.4%

Abusers were defined as patients with a diagnosis for opioid abuse or dependence. Non-abusers were defined as patients with no diagnoses for opioid abuse or dependence. Opioid-dependent patients were defined as abusers who had a diagnosis for opioid dependence on their index date. Family members were identified as any individuals with the same family ID as the abuser.