Observed increases were larger for patients who delivered by C-section than for those with vaginal delivery<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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MONDAY, April 3, 2023 (HealthDay News) — There was a significant increase in postpartum opioid fills in association with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online April 3 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Shelby R. Steuart, from the University of Georgia in Athens, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study involving 460,371 privately insured postpartum women who delivered a singleton live newborn between July 1, 2018, and Dec. 31, 2020. Postpartum opioid fills were compared before and after March 1, 2020.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the likelihood of filling an opioid prescription was 2.8 percent higher for women who gave birth to a single, live newborn after March 2020 compared with the expected likelihood based on the preexisting trend (forecasted and actual, 35.0 and 37.8 percent, respectively). In addition, the COVID-19 period was associated with an increase in morphine milligram equivalents per day (forecasted and actual mean, 34.1 and 35.8, respectively); number of opioid fills per patient (forecasted and actual, 0.49 and 0.54, respectively); and percentage of patients filling a schedule II opioid prescription (forecasted and actual, 28.7 and 31.5 percent, respectively). Patients who delivered by cesarean birth had larger observed increases than those with vaginal delivery.<\/p>\n “Future research should examine whether changes in postpartum opioid fills after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have continued and whether these changes have translated into increases in opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and opioid-related overdose among postpartum women,” the authors write.<\/p>\n