PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation
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Multicenter Study
Trends in ambulatory physician opioid prescription in the United States, 1997-2009.
To describe the changing practice pattern of opioid medication prescription by health care providers and its relationship to shifts in the incidence of back pain, demographics, and health care access. ⋯ In the United States, from 1997-2009, (1) variable increases in opioid prescription across ambulatory care settings were not accounted for by changing demographics and health care access; (2) significant disparities existed in opioid prescription as a function of age, gender, race/ethnicity, and payer source; and (3) for back pain, increasing opioid prescription was not accounted for by changing incidence.