Tapering

Opioid

Computer science

Anxiety

Macroeconomics

Internal medicine

Psychiatry

Economics

Medicine

Confidence interval

Computer graphics (images)

Mental health

Emergency medicine

Cohort

Retrospective cohort study

Receptor

Cohort study

Poison control

Anesthesia

Rate ratio

Depression (economics)

JAMA

<h3>Importance</h3> Opioid-related mortality and national prescribing guidelines have led to tapering of doses among patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain. There is limited information about risks related to tapering, including overdose and mental health crisis. <h3>Objective</h3> To assess whether there are associations between opioid dose tapering and rates of overdose and mental health crisis among patients prescribed stable, long-term, higher-dose opioids. <h3>Design, Setting, and Participants</h3> Retrospective cohort study using deidentified medical and pharmacy claims and enrollment data from the OptumLabs Data Warehouse from 2008 to 2019. Adults in the US prescribed stable higher doses (mean ≥50 morphine milligram equivalents/d) of opioids for a 12-month baseline period with at least 2 months of follow-up were eligible for inclusion. <h3>Exposures</h3> Opioid tapering, defined as at least 15% relative reduction in mean daily dose during any of 6 overlapping 60-day windows withi...

Association of Dose Tapering With Overdose or Mental Health Crisis Among Patients Prescribed Long-term Opioids