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Association of Postoperative Opioid Prescription Size and Patient Satisfaction.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Fry, BT; Howard, RA; Gunaseelan, V; Lee, JS; Waljee, JF; Englesbe, MJ; Vu, JV
Published in: Ann Surg
December 1, 2022

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between postoperative opioid prescription size and patient-reported satisfaction among surgical patients. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Opioids are overprescribed after surgery, which negatively impacts patient outcomes. The assumption that larger prescriptions increase patient satisfaction has been suggested as an important driver of excessive prescribing. METHODS: This prospective cohort study evaluated opioid-naive adult patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic appendectomy, and minor hernia repair between January 1 and May 31, 2018. The primary outcome was patient satisfaction, collected via a 30-day postoperative survey. Satisfaction was measured on a scale of 0 to 10 and dichotomized into "highly satisfied" (9-10) and "not highly satisfied" (0-8). The explanatory variable of interest was size of opioid prescription at discharge from surgery, converted into milligrams of oral morphine equivalents (OME). Hierarchical logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between prescription size and satisfaction while adjusting for clinical covariates. RESULTS: One thousand five hundred twenty patients met the inclusion criteria. Mean age was 53 years and 43% of patients were female. One thousand two hundred seventy-nine (84.1%) patients were highly satisfied and 241 (15.9%) were not highly satisfied. After multivariable adjustment, there was no significant association between opioid prescription size and satisfaction (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.99-1.00). The predicted probability of being highly satisfied ranged from 83% for the smallest prescription (25 mg OME) to 85% for the largest prescription (750 mg OME). CONCLUSIONS: In a large cohort of patients undergoing common surgical procedures, there was no association between opioid prescription size at discharge after surgery and patient satisfaction. This implies that surgeons can provide significantly smaller opioid prescriptions after surgery without negatively affecting patient satisfaction.

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Published In

Ann Surg

DOI

EISSN

1528-1140

Publication Date

December 1, 2022

Volume

276

Issue

6

Start / End Page

e1064 / e1069

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surgery
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Prospective Studies
  • Prescriptions
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'
  • Patient Satisfaction
  • Pain, Postoperative
  • Morphine
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Fry, B. T., Howard, R. A., Gunaseelan, V., Lee, J. S., Waljee, J. F., Englesbe, M. J., & Vu, J. V. (2022). Association of Postoperative Opioid Prescription Size and Patient Satisfaction. Ann Surg, 276(6), e1064–e1069. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000004784
Fry, Brian T., Ryan A. Howard, Vidhya Gunaseelan, Jay S. Lee, Jennifer F. Waljee, Michael J. Englesbe, and Joceline V. Vu. “Association of Postoperative Opioid Prescription Size and Patient Satisfaction.Ann Surg 276, no. 6 (December 1, 2022): e1064–69. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000004784.
Fry BT, Howard RA, Gunaseelan V, Lee JS, Waljee JF, Englesbe MJ, et al. Association of Postoperative Opioid Prescription Size and Patient Satisfaction. Ann Surg. 2022 Dec 1;276(6):e1064–9.
Fry, Brian T., et al. “Association of Postoperative Opioid Prescription Size and Patient Satisfaction.Ann Surg, vol. 276, no. 6, Dec. 2022, pp. e1064–69. Pubmed, doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000004784.
Fry BT, Howard RA, Gunaseelan V, Lee JS, Waljee JF, Englesbe MJ, Vu JV. Association of Postoperative Opioid Prescription Size and Patient Satisfaction. Ann Surg. 2022 Dec 1;276(6):e1064–e1069.

Published In

Ann Surg

DOI

EISSN

1528-1140

Publication Date

December 1, 2022

Volume

276

Issue

6

Start / End Page

e1064 / e1069

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surgery
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Prospective Studies
  • Prescriptions
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'
  • Patient Satisfaction
  • Pain, Postoperative
  • Morphine
  • Middle Aged
  • Male