Injuries That Happen at Work Lead to More Opioid Prescriptions and Higher Opioid Costs.

Assessing opioid prescription patterns is key to understanding the opioid crisis. Some researchers have suggested that work and workplace issues are not adequately represented in efforts to reduce the opioid crisis. This paper addresses this concern by comparing opioid prescription patterns of occupational injury-caused conditions to other injury-caused conditions. Objectives: This study aimed to compare opioid prescription incidence, supply days, and cost associated with occupational injury and other injury-caused conditions. Methods: We used Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data for 2010–2019. The MEPS provides information on medical conditions and associated medical encounters, treatments, and treatment costs, as well as demographic, education, health, working status, income, and insurance coverage information. We used descriptive statistics and logistic and 2-part regressions. Results: Controlling for covariates and compared with other injury-caused conditions, occupational injury–caused conditions resulted in 33% higher odds of opioid prescribing, 32.8 more opioid prescription supply days, and $134 higher average cost. Conclusions: Occupational injuries were associated with higher opioid incidence and costs, and more opioid supply days. These findings point to the need to focus on making work safer and the role employers may play in supporting worker recovery from injury and opioid use disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]