Prescribing Opioids: CDC Vital Signs Report

Opioid Prescribing: Where you live matters

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Opioid Prescribing Where you live matters   July 7, 2017   Build. Partner. Report. [PDF, 4.67 MB, 4 Pages] The amount of opioids prescribed in the US peaked in 2010 and then decreased each year through 2015. However, prescribing remains high and vary widely from county to county. Healthcare providers began using opioids in the late 1990s to treat chronic pain (not related to cancer), such as arthritis and back pain. As this continued, more opioid prescriptions were written, for more days per prescription, in higher doses. Taking opioids for longer periods of time or in higher doses increases the risk of addiction, overdose, and death. Key points include: Providers in the highest prescribing counties prescribed 6 times more opioids per person than the lowest prescribing counties in 2015. Half of US counties had a decrease in the amount of opioids prescribed per person from 2010 to 2015. The amount of opioids prescribed per person in 2015 was about 3 times as high as in 1999. Video: July 2017 Vital Signs Opioid Prescribing: Where You Live Matters   The amount of opioids prescribed per person in 2015 was about 3 times as high as in 1999.   Vital Signs is a monthly report that appears as part of the CDC journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Content source: Office of the Associate Director for Communications (OADC)

 

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