Changes in Opioid Prescription Duration for Musculoskeletal Injury Associated with the STOP Act.

OBJECTIVES: To assess whether implementation of the Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act was associated with an increase in the percent of opioid prescriptions written for 7 days or less among patients with acute or post-surgical musculoskeletal conditions.

DESIGN: An interrupted time series study was conducted to determine the change in duration of opioid prescriptions associated with the STOP Act.

SETTING: Data were extracted from the electronic health record of a large healthcare system in North Carolina.

SUBJECTS: Patients presenting from 2016-2020 with an acute musculoskeletal injury and the clinicians treating them were included in an interrupted time series study (n = 12,839).

METHODS: Trends were assessed over time, including the change in trend associated with implementation of the STOP Act, for the percentage of prescriptions written for seven days or less.

RESULTS: Among patients with acute musculoskeletal injury, less than 30% of prescriptions were written for 7 days or less in January of 2016; by December of 2020, almost 90% of prescriptions were written for 7 days or less. Prescriptions written for ≤ 7 days increased 17.7% after STOP Act was implemented (p < 0.001), after adjusting for the existing trend.

CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate significant potential for legislation to influence opioid prescribing behavior.