Clinical trial NCT04805229: A Difference-In-Differences Analysis of New Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery
Official title: Using Difference-in-Differences to Evaluate the Effect of a Statewide Quality Improvement Program on New Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Opioid Use
Lead sponsor: University of Michigan
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-03-18
Enrollment: 30000
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
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.

Brief summary: 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.

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.

Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: The change in the incidence of new persistent opioid use before and after July 2016 in Michigan compared to all other states.
timeFrame: Postoperative days 4 to 180
Secondary outcomes:
measure: The change in the incidence of new persistent opioid use before and after July 2016 in Michigan compared to Indiana and Wisconsin
timeFrame: Postoperative days 4 to 180
measure: 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).
timeFrame: Postoperative days 4 to 180
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ann Arbor
country: United States
facility: University of Michigan
state: Michigan
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Michigan
name: Chad Brummett, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Waljee JF, Li L, Brummett CM, Englesbe MJ. Iatrogenic Opioid Dependence in the United States: Are Surgeons the Gatekeepers? Ann Surg. 2017 Apr;265(4):728-730. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000001904. No abstract available.
citation: Hah JM, Bateman BT, Ratliff J, Curtin C, Sun E. Chronic Opioid Use After Surgery: Implications for Perioperative Management in the Face of the Opioid Epidemic. Anesth Analg. 2017 Nov;125(5):1733-1740. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000002458.
citation: Brummett CM, Waljee JF, Goesling J, Moser S, Lin P, Englesbe MJ, Bohnert ASB, Kheterpal S, Nallamothu BK. New Persistent Opioid Use After Minor and Major Surgical Procedures in US Adults. JAMA Surg. 2017 Jun 21;152(6):e170504. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2017.0504. Epub 2017 Jun 21.
citation: Lee JS, Hu HM, Edelman AL, Brummett CM, Englesbe MJ, Waljee JF, Smerage JB, Griggs JJ, Nathan H, Jeruss JS, Dossett LA. New Persistent Opioid Use Among Patients With Cancer After Curative-Intent Surgery. J Clin Oncol. 2017 Dec 20;35(36):4042-4049. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2017.74.1363. Epub 2017 Oct 19.
citation: Harbaugh CM, Lee JS, Hu HM, McCabe SE, Voepel-Lewis T, Englesbe MJ, Brummett CM, Waljee JF. Persistent Opioid Use Among Pediatric Patients After Surgery. Pediatrics. 2018 Jan;141(1):e20172439. doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-2439. Epub 2017 Dec 4.
citation: Brescia AA, Waljee JF, Hu HM, Englesbe MJ, Brummett CM, Lagisetty PA, Lagisetty KH. Impact of Prescribing on New Persistent Opioid Use After Cardiothoracic Surgery. Ann Thorac Surg. 2019 Oct;108(4):1107-1113. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2019.06.019. Epub 2019 Aug 22.
citation: Lee JS, Vu JV, Edelman AL, Gunaseelan V, Brummett CM, Englesbe MJ, Waljee JF. Health Care Spending and New Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery. Ann Surg. 2020 Jul;272(1):99-104. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000003399.
citation: Babu KM, Brent J, Juurlink DN. Prevention of Opioid Overdose. N Engl J Med. 2019 Jun 6;380(23):2246-2255. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1807054. No abstract available.
citation: Howard R, Waljee J, Brummett C, Englesbe M, Lee J. Reduction in Opioid Prescribing Through Evidence-Based Prescribing Guidelines. JAMA Surg. 2018 Mar 1;153(3):285-287. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2017.4436.
citation: Overton HN, Hanna MN, Bruhn WE, Hutfless S, Bicket MC, Makary MA; Opioids After Surgery Workgroup. Opioid-Prescribing Guidelines for Common Surgical Procedures: An Expert Panel Consensus. J Am Coll Surg. 2018 Oct;227(4):411-418. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2018.07.659. Epub 2018 Aug 14.
citation: Hallway A, Vu J, Lee J, Palazzolo W, Waljee J, Brummett C, Englesbe M, Howard R. Patient Satisfaction and Pain Control Using an Opioid-Sparing Postoperative Pathway. J Am Coll Surg. 2019 Sep;229(3):316-322. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2019.04.020. Epub 2019 May 30.
citation: Vu JV, Howard RA, Gunaseelan V, Brummett CM, Waljee JF, Englesbe MJ. Statewide Implementation of Postoperative Opioid Prescribing Guidelines. N Engl J Med. 2019 Aug 15;381(7):680-682. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc1905045. No abstract available.
citation: Brown CS, Vu JV, Howard RA, Gunaseelan V, Brummett CM, Waljee J, Englesbe M. Assessment of a quality improvement intervention to decrease opioid prescribing in a regional health system. BMJ Qual Saf. 2021 Mar;30(3):251-259. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2020-011295. Epub 2020 Sep 16.
citation: Hill MV, Stucke RS, Billmeier SE, Kelly JL, Barth RJ Jr. Guideline for Discharge Opioid Prescriptions after Inpatient General Surgical Procedures. J Am Coll Surg. 2018 Jun;226(6):996-1003. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2017.10.012. Epub 2017 Nov 30.