OCEANSIDE, CA — MHS patients are less likely to fill a prescription for opioids after delivery of a child than those receiving care from civilian facilities.
That’s according to a new report in the American Journal of Perinatology. Researches from Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton and colleagues sought to determine the prevalence and factors associated with opioid prescriptions to postpartum patients among TRICARE beneficiaries receiving care in the civilian health care system compared to those at a military health care facility.1
The study team, which also included participation from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, all in Bethesda, MD, and the Wright-Patterson United States Air Force Medical Center in Dayton, OH, reviewed postpartum opioid prescriptions filled at discharge among patients insured by TRICARE Prime/Prime Plus using the MHS Data Repository between fiscal years 2010 to 2015.
Included were women age 15 to 49 years old; abortive pregnancy outcomes and incomplete datasets were excluded.
Results indicated that, of 508,258 postpartum beneficiaries, those in civilian healthcare were more likely to fill a discharge opioid prescription compared with those in military healthcare (OR 3.9, 95% CI 3.8-3.99).
The study team noted that cesarean deliveries occurred less frequently in military care (26%) compared with civilian care (30%), while forceps deliveries occurred more frequently in military care (1.38%) compared with civilian care (0.75%).
Least likely to fill an opioid prescription post-partum were women identified as Asian race (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.75-0.83). Younger women aged 15 to 19 years also had lower odds of filling an opioid prescription (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.80-0.86), as was the case with women who held a senior officer rank (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.73-0.91). Those with a warrant officer rank were more likely to fill an opioid prescription (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.06-1.23), however, according to the report.
“Our data indicates that women who received care in civilian facilities were more likely to fill an opioid prescription at discharge when compared with military facilities,” the authors concluded. “Factors such as race and age were associated with opioid prescription at discharge. This study highlights areas for improvement for potential further studies.
They added that opioid prescription patterns for postpartum women might vary across the country, but, overall, postpartum patients in civilian care are more likely to obtain opioids.
- Watters JA, Banaag A, Massengill JC, Koehlmoos TP, Staat BC. Postpartum Opioid Use among Military Health System Beneficiaries. Am J Perinatol. 2021 Nov 16. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1740006. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34784618.
