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Topic Overview:

As one out of every 10 deaths among adolescents and young adults in the United States is a result of opioids, it is critical to examine the impact of prescription opioids as they remain the first exposure to opioids for many youths. Prescription opioid exposure remains common among adolescents for a variety of conditions, and it has been identified as an important risk factor for future opioid use. However, we have had limited understanding of how patterns of opioid prescribing at and following the first opioid exposure relate to persistent opioid use and how these explain the risks associated with an initial opioid prescription. Wilson will review findings from a longitudinal trajectory analysis of Medicaid claims data that examines a cohort of adolescents and young adults following their first opioid prescription to better understand patterns of use and trajectories of risk. Wilson will discuss the patient-, provider-, and prescription-level factors associated with trajectories of use during the first year and after. Wilson will also contextualize these findings with a related analysis of Optum claims data, which examines outcomes among adolescents and young adults visiting primary care settings for acute pain who did and did not receive opioid prescriptions.