Predictors of Patient Post-discharge Opioid Use After Cesarean Delivery: a Prospective Study

Background: The opioid crisis is a public health emergency in the United States of America. It is important to understand factors associated with outpatient opioid use. Our primary aim was to assess post-cesarean outpatient opioid use. The secondary aim was to identify characteristics associated with use.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort analysis of women who underwent cesarean delivery at an urban academic center. Phone surveys were done on post-discharge days three, seven, and 14. The primary outcome was post-discharge opioid use.

Results: Of 205 eligible patients contacted, 190 (91%) agreed to participate and 173 (84%) participated in all three surveys. Median amount of opioid prescribed was 75 mg morphine equivalents (MME) (interquartile range 60-113) and participants used a median of 15 MME (0-53) by discharge day 14. Most patients (139/190) filled their opioid prescription but 42% (80/190) did not consume the opioids prescribed. Outpatient opioid use was associated with increased in-hospital opioid consumption (P=0.0003), gravidity (P=0.003), parity (P=0.004) and number of previous cesarean deliveries (P=0.02). Higher amounts of in-hospital opioid use (P=0.0004), higher gravidity (P=0.02), higher outpatient pain scores (>3/10, P=0.01), and poor pain control (P=0.04) were associated with consuming all prescribed opioids. Patients used opioids for a median of two days post-discharge. Use of non-opioid pain medication was not associated with opioid use.

Conclusion: Opioids were prescribed in excess of consumption and many patients did not use any opioids. Next steps include developing a prescribing algorithm to incorporate factors we found predictive of opioid use.