Long Weekends & Holidays = Increased Risks?

In a study published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, patients were more likely to fill an opioid prescription for an outpatient dental procedure performed the day before a weekend or holiday than on another weekday.

The cover story, "Increased Opioid Prescription Fills After Dental Procedures Performed Before Weekends and Holidays," looked at opioid fill data for 2,060,317 people aged 13-64 who underwent eligible dental procedures between 2013 and 2017 and had not previously filled an opioid prescription within 90 days of the procedure. The study used insurance claims data from the Truven Health MarketScan warehouse, which offers data for nearly 240 million Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance.

The researchers found outpatient dental procedures occurring the day before a weekend or holiday were associated with a 27% increased adjusted odds of filling an opioid prescription compared to procedures occurring on other weekdays.

"Variation in opioid prescription fills may put some patients at increased risk," said Caitlin R. Priest, first author of the article and a medical student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "Now that we understand that dental opioid prescription fills were increased on Fridays and before holidays, we can create and disseminate best practices to avoid unnecessary prescribing."

 

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Access the journal article.

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