A Difference-In-Differences Analysis of New Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery

March 15, 2021 updated by: Chad Brummett, University of Michigan

Using Difference-in-Differences to Evaluate the Effect of a Statewide Quality Improvement Program on New Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery

The Michigan Opioid Prescribing and Engagement Network (M-OPEN) was established in 2016 with the goal of reducing excessive opioid prescribing after surgery using evidence-based prescribing guidelines. Beginning in July 2016, M-OPEN began a statewide quality improvement campaign to educate providers and share prescribing best practices. This retrospective study examines the effect of these efforts on new persistent opioid use after surgery compared to other states where no such program existed using a difference-in-differences approach.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In the United States, surgical care has become a gateway for chronic opioid dependence and its associated morbidity. Between 5-10% of patients who receive opioids for postoperative pain control go on to develop long-term opioid use. This translates to more than 2 million previously opioid-naïve individuals developing chronic opioid use after surgery each year. Persistent opioid use after surgery is associated with increased readmissions, healthcare utilization, and healthcare expenditures. Critically, long-term opioid use increases the risk of overdose and death in patients who, prior to their surgery, had no exposure to opioids.

Growing recognition of this problem has led to numerous efforts aimed at reducing opioid-associated morbidity after surgery. These include legislative limits on opioid prescribing for acute pain, procedure-specific prescribing guidelines based on patient-reported opioid use, and opioid-sparing pain management pathways. In Michigan specifically, the Michigan Opioid Prescribing and Engagement Network (M-OPEN) led a statewide quality improvement effort beginning in 2016 that focused on provider education using evidence-based opioid prescribing guidelines. Previously, these guidelines have been shown to significantly reduce excessive postoperative opioid prescribing across the state, however it is currently unknown whether these efforts have had any effect on the actual incidence of persistent opioid use after surgery.

Therefore, the current study will evaluate the incidence of new persistent opioid use before and after the establishment of M-OPEN in Michigan. Beginning in 2016, a statewide quality improvement initiative was undertaken in Michigan to improve postoperative opioid prescribing. In order to accomplish this goal, this study will use a difference-in-differences approach to compare new persistent opioid use in Michigan before and after 2016 to other states where no such quality improvement effort existed.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

30000

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109
        • University of Michigan

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Data for this study will be obtained from the Truven Health MarketScan database, which is a national data set of employer-based insurance claims. Patients in the database who underwent one of the eligible procedures will be identified using Current Procedural Terminology codes that correspond to the specific operations under analysis.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult patients (18 years and older)
  • Patients undergoing one of the following procedures: laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic appendectomy, minor hernia repair (including laparoscopic or open inguinal, femoral, umbilical, and epigastric hernia repair), open and laparoscopic ventral/incisional hernia repair, laparoscopic colectomy, open colectomy, vaginal hysterectomy, laparoscopic hysterectomy, and open abdominal hysterectomy
  • Patients who underwent surgery between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2019

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are not opioid-naive at the time of surgery, defined as filling 1 or more opioid prescriptions between the 12 months to 31 days prior to surgery
  • Patients without continuous insurance enrollment for at least 12 months before and at least 6 months after the date of surgery
  • Patients still in the hospital on postoperative day 30
  • Patients not discharged home after surgery
  • Patients who underwent another surgery within 6 months of their index operation

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Patients undergoing surgery
Retrospective cohort of patients who underwent surgery between 1/1/13 to 12/31/19 and were sampled from the Truven Health MarketScan Database.
Other: Retrospective analysis of opioid use after surgery
Retrospective analysis of opioid use after one of the following surgical procedure categories: laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic appendectomy, minor hernia repair (including laparoscopic or open inguinal, femoral, umbilical, and epigastric hernia repair), open and laparoscopic ventral/incisional hernia repair, laparoscopic colectomy, open colectomy, vaginal hysterectomy, laparoscopic hysterectomy, and open abdominal hysterectomy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The change in the incidence of new persistent opioid use before and after July 2016 in Michigan compared to all other states.
Time Frame: Postoperative days 4 to 180
Among patients who undergo surgery, new persistent opioid use is defined as filling an opioid prescription in post-discharge days 4-90 and filling another opioid prescription in post-discharge days 91-180. This incidence will be measured from 1/1/13-6/30/16 (before M-OPEN established) and from 7/1/16-12/31/19 (after M-OPEN established) and the change before and after this date will be compared between Michigan and all other states (the difference-in-differences). Outcomes will be measured at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years post-intervention.
Postoperative days 4 to 180

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The change in the incidence of new persistent opioid use before and after July 2016 in Michigan compared to Indiana and Wisconsin
Time Frame: Postoperative days 4 to 180
Among patients who undergo surgery, new persistent opioid use is defined as filling an opioid prescription in post-discharge days 4-90 and filling another opioid prescription in post-discharge days 91-180. This incidence will be measured from 1/1/13-6/30/16 (before M-OPEN established) and from 7/1/16-12/31/19 (after M-OPEN established) and the change before and after this date will be compared between Michigan and Indiana/Wisconsin (the difference-in-differences). Outcomes will be measured at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years post-intervention.
Postoperative days 4 to 180
The change in the incidence of new persistent opioid use before and after July 2016 in Michigan compared to 11 other Midwest states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin).
Time Frame: Postoperative days 4 to 180
Among patients who undergo surgery, new persistent opioid use is defined as filling an opioid prescription in post-discharge days 4-90 and filling another opioid prescription in post-discharge days 91-180. This incidence will be measured from 1/1/13-6/30/16 (before M-OPEN established) and from 7/1/16-12/31/19 (after M-OPEN established) and the change before and after this date will be compared between Michigan and 11 other Midwest states. Outcomes will be measured at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years post-intervention.
Postoperative days 4 to 180

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Michigan

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Chad Brummett, MD, University of Michigan

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 15, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

March 18, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 18, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2021

Last Verified

October 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HUM00119139

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Opioid Use

Clinical Trials on Retrospective analysis of opioid use after surgery

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Rwanda

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe