Opioid and Benzodiazepine Prescribing Trends

Data on prescribing in 2012 come from IMS Health’s National Prescription Audit (NPA). NPA provides estimates of the numbers of prescriptions dispensed in each state based on a sample of approximately 57,000 pharmacies, which dispense nearly 80% of the retail prescriptions in the United States. Prescriptions, including refills, dispensed at retail pharmacies and paid for by commercial insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, or cash were included.*CDC used the numbers of prescriptions and census denominators to calculate prescribing rates for OPR, subtypes of OPR, and benzodiazepines. The OPR category included semisynthetic opioids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and synthetic opioids, such as tramadol. It did not include buprenorphine products used primarily for substance abuse treatment rather than pain, methadone distributed through substance abuse treatment programs, or cough and cold formulations containing opioids. LA/ER OPR were defined as those that should be taken only 2 to 3 times a day, such as methadone, OxyContin, and Opana ER. High-dose OPR were defined as the largest formulations available for each type of OPR that resulted in a total daily dosage of ≥100 morphine milligram equivalents when taken at the usual frequency, for example, every 4–6 hours. Benzodiazepines included alprazolam, clonazepam, clorazepate, diazepam, estazolam, flurazepam, lorazepam, oxazepam, quazepam, temazepam, and triazolam.
CDC calculated prescribing rates per 100 persons for the United States, each census region, and each state. CDC described the distribution of state rates using mean, standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV) (SD divided by the mean), the interquartile ratio (IQ) (75th percentile rate divided by the 25th percentile rate), and the ratio of the highest/lowest rates. Rates were transformed into multiples of the SD above or below the mean state rate of each drug.