Opioid Use Among Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
Link
Date
01/2025
Description
This study provides an overview of rural-urban differences in opioid prescribing rates for community and facility-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries, and for beneficiaries particularly affected by long-term opioid use, such as patients with chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs).
Key Findings:
- During 2010-2017, rural beneficiaries were more likely to receive opioid prescriptions than their urban counterparts.
- The percentage of both rural and urban community-dwelling beneficiaries receiving opioid prescriptions ranged from 17% in 2010 to 25% from 2015-2017.
- Around 40-47% of rural facility-dwelling beneficiaries were receiving opioid prescriptions from 2010-2017, compared to 29-35% of their urban counterparts.
- A higher prevalence of COPCs in rural community-dwelling beneficiaries (19%) compared to urban beneficiaries (15%) may be a factor in higher opioid prescription rates.
- Among community-dwelling beneficiaries with COPCs, such as chronic low back pain and fibromyalgia, rural beneficiaries were more likely to receive opioid prescriptions (31%) than their urban counterparts (22%).
- Over 2010-2017, 13-26% of community-dwelling beneficiaries with COPCs received opioid prescriptions exceeding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) <50 morphine milligram equivalents/day guidelines. Prescribing patterns that deviate from CDC guidelines may be contributing to opioid use disorders ranging from 0.72% to 1.24% from 2010-2017.
Center
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Authors
Yvonne Jonk, Heidi O'Connor, Karen Pearson, Zachariah Croll, Deborah Thayer, John Gale