Opioids are prescribed more frequently and for longer periods of time to dialysis patients in the U.S., according to a study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Researchers examined opioid prescriptions among Medicare patients undergoing maintenance dialysis. They studied 2006-2010 United States Renal Data System files, including those related to Medicare Part D.
Here are four study insights:
1. Almost two thirds of dialysis patients received at least one opioid prescription every year and more than 20 percent received chronic prescriptions, that is, 90 days of filled prescriptions.
2. The number of chronic prescriptions dialysis patients received was three times the rate of chronic opioid prescription in the general Medicare population.
3. More than 25 percent of opioid-using dialysis patients received doses exceeding recommendations.
4. Dialysis patients who received opioids were at significantly higher risk of early death, discontinuation of dialysis and the need for hospitalization than those who did not.