Opioid prescription patterns among commercially insured children with and without cerebral palsy.
Lubna Ayoubi, Jessica Pruente, Alecia K Daunter and 3 others
PMID 38489199WHAT IT FOUND
Children with cerebral palsy were prescribed opioids more often and for more days than peers without CP.
Median supply was 7 to 8 days annually. This pattern suggests acute pain management rather than chronic use, though overall exposure rates remain higher in the CP group.
Key findings
01In the baseline year, 12.1% of children with cerebral palsy were exposed to opioids compared to 4.8% of children without cerebral palsy.
02Among those exposed to opioids, children with cerebral palsy had a higher number of days supplied in both the baseline and follow-up periods.
03The short duration of annual opioid supply indicates no strong evidence that opioids were being used to manage chronic pain in this population.
STILL TO COME
What they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study relied on administrative claims data, which may miss diagnoses or prescriptions not captured in coding. The cohort was limited to commercially insured children, potentially excluding those with Medicaid who may have different healthcare utilization patterns. The data did not include inpatient pharmacy claims, so total opioid exposure may be underestimated. The study could not confirm whether prescribed medications were actually taken by the patients. Information on the severity of cerebral palsy was not available in the dataset.
Declared interests
None reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that higher opioid prescription rates indicate widespread chronic pain management. The median days supplied were short (7-8 days per year), suggesting these prescriptions were likely for acute events such as surgery or illness rather than long-term pain control.