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Table 1 Patient characteristics and utilization patterns by medication and group, baseline treatment year

From: Use of power-law analysis to predict abuse or diversion of prescribed medications: proof-of-concept mathematical exploration

 

PLG1

PLG2

PLG3

PLG4

Lorenz-25

Lorenz-1

Alprazolam (n)

283,970

187,266

57,854

11,662

137,047

5384

 % of sample

52.5

34.6

10.7

2.2

25.3

1.0

 Threshold dosage/daya

N/A

0.33

1.69

5.04

0.90

7.40

 Ratio threshold:maximum

N/A

0.08

0.42

1.26

0.23

1.85

 Female (%)

73.0

66.9

63.6

63.2

64.1

63.9

 Mean age

46

48

48

48

48

49

 Mean claims > max dose/monthb

0.13

0.22

0.33

0.84

0.33

0.91

 Lorenz-1 (%)

0.0

0.0

0.0

46.2

3.9

100.0

 Diagnoses and utilizationc %

      

  Anxiety

45.4

49.6

55.9

58.9

53.9

59.3

  Cancer

6.1

6.3

5.7

5.7

5.9

5.8

  Insomnia

12.2

14.5

14.4

15.5

14.6

15.3

  Pain

55.8

61.4

66.8

68.2

65.2

67.8

  SUD

8.1

12.9

18.5

20.6

16.9

19.6

 IPH (% with ≥ 1)

7.1

9.5

11.8

11.6

11.0

10.1

  Pain

2.2

3.3

4.5

4.6

4.1

4.1

  SUD

1.3

2.4

3.6

4.0

3.2

3.3

  Z drug hypnoticd

11.3

16.1

18.1

18.6

17.7

18.0

  Gabapentinc

3.7

6.6

8.9

8.9

8.2

8.5

  Opioidc

24.2

37.6

51.9

52.1

47.5

50.4

Gabapentin (n)

208,848

106,213

2476

N/A

81,534

3266

 % of sample

65.8

33.4

0.8

 

25.7

1.0

 Threshold dosage/daya

N/A

766.03

12,509.59

 

1034.25

10,356.16

 Ratio threshold:maximum

N/A

0.21

3.47

 

0.29

2.88

 Female (%)

64.6

61.7

59.1

 

61.2

60.1

 Mean age

50

51

52

 

51

52

 Mean claims > max dose/monthb

0.00

0.06

0.80

 

0.10

0.77

 Lorenz-1 (%)

0

0.7

100.0

 

4.0

100.0

 Diagnoses and utilizationc %

  Anxiety

20.6

22.7

27.9

 

23.0

27.3

  Cancer

8.1

8.5

8.6

 

8.5

8.4

  Insomnia

12.2

13.8

17.6

 

14.0

17.2

  Pain

84.4

86.4

90.0

 

86.7

89.7

  SUD

12.9

15.8

21.2

 

16.4

20.5

 IPH (% with ≥ 1)

14.1

16.2

17.1

 

16.4

16.7

  Pain

7.9

9.6

10.9

 

9.8

10.6

  SUD

2.9

3.4

5.0

 

3.5

4.7

 Benzodiazepined

21.3

26.6

27.8

 

26.9

27.2

 Z drug hypnoticd

9.7

12.9

12.9

 

13.0

12.7

 Opioidc

41.9

51.6

57.9

 

52.9

56.1

Opioids (n)

2,172,054

217,918

67,514

N/A

615,003

24,884

 % of sample

88.4

8.9

2.7

 

25.0

1.0

 Threshold dosage/daya

N/A

22.60

130.19

 

5.82

271.15

 Ratio threshold:maximum

N/A

0.45

2.60

 

0.12

5.42

 Female (%)

59.4

52.2

45.7

 

53.6

46.2

 Mean age

45

48

47

 

48

49

 Mean claims > max dose/monthb

0.08

0.52

1.44

 

0.44

1.63

 Lorenz-1 (%)

0

0

36.9

 

4.0

100.0

 Diagnoses and utilizationc %

  Anxiety

14.5

24.5

25.7

 

22.3

26.2

  Cancer

6.6

7.1

6.3

 

7.4

6.6

  Insomnia

7.8

12.5

12.7

 

11.9

13.6

  Pain

66.8

87.8

83.1

 

85.1

88.3

  SUD

9.5

24.8

36.4

 

20.8

32.2

 IPH (% with ≥ 1)

12.5

17.9

15.5

 

18.7

15.6

  Pain

4.9

10.4

9.2

 

11.3

9.8

  SUD

1.5

4.5

5.1

 

3.8

5.0

 Benzodiazepined

14.2

35.4

38.2

 

30.8

41.2

 Z drug hypnoticd

6.4

14.8

14.4

 

13.2

15.2

 Gabapentinc

4.9

16.9

16.5

 

14.1

17.0

  1. IPH inpatient hospital stay, Lorenz-1 top 1% of utilizers, Lorenz-25 top quartile (25%) of utilizers, mg milligrams, MME morphine-milligram equivalents, PLG power-law group, SUD substance use disorder
  2. aMedication supply was measured as milligrams for alprazolam (n = 540,752) and gabapentin (n = 317,537), and MMEs for opioids (n = 2,457,486). All medication claims were measured in the baseline treatment year (i.e., 12-month period beginning with the first observed medication claim of the type shown in the row label); sample is not limited to new utilizers. Threshold is the dosage that defines the category lower limit; for example, > 0.33 and ≤ 1.69 mg defined PLZ-2 alprazolam
  3. bTotal supply dispensed in each claim divided by days supply; rate was measured as total number of claims exceeding labeled/recommended dosage (4 mg/day alprazolam, 3600 mg/day gabapentin; 50 MME/day opioids), divided by 12
  4. cMeasured in the baseline treatment year. Diagnosis codes are shown in Additional file 1: Appendix S4
  5. dBenzodiazepines measured: clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam and, for users of gabapentin and opioids, alprazolam. Z-drugs measured: eszopiclone and zolpidem. Percentages of patients with ≥ 2 claims
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BMC Research Notes

ISSN: 1756-0500

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