Post-discharge opioid use is far more likely among patients who are given opioids during their hospital stay compared to patients who do not receive opioids, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers conducted the retrospective cohort study at 12 community and academic hospitals in Pennsylvania. They examined 191,249 admissions of patients with at least one outpatient encounter within 12 months before and after the admission.

Researchers found that opioids were administered in 48 percent of admissions. The opioids were administered for 67.9 percent of their hospital stay.

Of the inpatients receiving opioids, 5.9 percent continued to use the prescription within 90 days post-discharge, compared to 3 percent of those patients who did not receive opioids at the hospital. Additionally, opioid use at 90 days was higher among inpatients receiving opioids less than 12 hours before discharge versus those patients with at least 24 opioid-free hours before discharge.

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