Date of Award

2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Specialization

Health Outcomes

Department

Pharmacy Practice

First Advisor

Stephen Kogut

Abstract

Objective: To determine the predictors of concomitant use of benzodiazepines with chronic opioid use in Rhode Island using pharmacy level data.

Design: Cross – sectional analysis

Setting: Rhode Island Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Database, 2015

Participants: Any person who filled a prescription for an opioid (>30 days’ supply), a benzodiazepine or both at a licensed retail pharmacy in Rhode Island during 2015.

Main outcome measure: Concomitant use of opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines, defined as the receipt of any benzodiazepine and opioid pharmacy dispensing having a days’ supply which overlaps by at least 1 day.

Results: Of 139,410 patients who were included in our analysis, 15.5% had overlapping (concomitant) opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions during 2015. Patients who were younger than 45 years of age, and who see more than three prescribers were less likely to be prescribed both opioids and benzodiazepines, in which the days supply overlap. Additionally, each additional prescription a person receives for a controlled substance increased the odds that they were prescribed concomitant therapy.

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