To examine the relationship between optional and must‐use prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and markers of disability.
Nationwide data from the National Health Interview Survey for 2006–2015.
Generalized difference‐in‐difference models with state‐specific time trends were used to assess the relationship between PDMPs and two outcomes: missed days of work and bedridden days.
Data Collection/Extraction Methods
All respondents above the age of 18 years with complete data on key measures were included. A subpopulation of respondents who had a recent surgery or injury was identified.
We found an increase of 3.3 and 5.9 bedridden days associated with optional and must‐use PDMPs, respectively, for respondents reporting a recent injury or surgery (‐values <0.05; unadjusted population average 12.2 bedridden days). Increases in days of missed work were not statistically significant.
Implementation of PDMPs was associated with negative unintended consequences in the injury/surgery subpopulation. The association between bedridden days and PDMPs suggests a gap between clinical trials showing equivalence of opioids and nonopioids for pain treatment and real‐world results. As increasingly tighter opioid restrictions proliferate, evidence‐based strategies to address pain without opioids in the acute pain population likely need to be more widely disseminated.
