• Brian D Sites, Jordon Harrison, Michael D Herrick, Melissa M Masaracchia, Michael L Beach, and Matthew A Davis.
• Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire brian.d.sites@hitchcock.org.
• Ann Fam Med. 2018 Jan 1; 16 (1): 6136-13.

PurposeIn the current payment paradigm, reimbursement is partially based on patient satisfaction scores. We sought to understand the relationship between prescription opioid use and satisfaction with care among adults who have musculoskeletal conditions.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study using nationally representative data from the 2008-2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We assessed whether prescription opioid use is associated with satisfaction with care among US adults who had musculoskeletal conditions. Specifically, using 5 key domains of satisfaction with care, we examined the association between opioid use (overall and according to the number of prescriptions received) and high satisfaction, defined as being in the top quartile of overall satisfaction ratings.ResultsAmong 19,566 adults with musculoskeletal conditions, we identified 2,564 (13.1%) who were opioid users, defined as receiving 1 or more prescriptions in 2 six-month time periods. In analyses adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and health status, compared with nonusers, opioid users were more likely to report high satisfaction with care (odds ratio = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.18-1.49). According to the level of use, a stronger association was noted with moderate opioid use (odds ratio = 1.55) and heavy opioid use (odds ratio = 1.43) (P <.001 for trend).ConclusionsAmong patients with musculoskeletal conditions, those using prescription opioids are more likely to be highly satisfied with their care. Considering that emerging reimbursement models include patient satisfaction, future work is warranted to better understand this relationship.© 2018 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

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