Table 1 Patient characteristics and opioid prescriptions.

From: Trends and patterns in the use of opioids among metastatic breast cancer patients

Characteristic

Cohort (N = 24,752)

Age in years, median (IQR)

53 (47–58)

Year of metastatic diagnosis date, N (%)

2006

1505 (6.1%)

2007

2014 (8.1%)

2008

2222 (9.0%)

2009

2521 (10.2%)

2010

2601 (10.5%)

2011

3102 (12.5%)

2012

2621 (10.6%)

2013

2626 (10.6%)

2014

2673 (10.8%)

2015

2867 (11.6%)

Region, N (%)

Northeast

3736 (15.1%)

North central

5951 (24.0%)

South

10,188 (41.2%)

West

4712 (19.0%)

Unknown

165 (0.7%)

Charlson comorbidity index, N (%)

0

19,750 (79.8%)

≥ 1

5002 (20.2%)

Anxiety, N (%)

2116 (8.5%)

Depression, N (%)

2202 (8.9%)

Severe mental illness, N (%)

351 (1.4%)

Substance use disorder, N (%)

1011 (4.1%)

Opioid prescription within 1 year prior to metastatic diagnosis date, N (%)

11,579 (46.8%)

Number of opioid prescriptions [among patients with use prior to diagnosis], N (%)

1

5616 (48.5%)

2

2327 (20.1%)

3

1086 (9.4%)

4

594 (5.1%)

5

352 (3.0%)

6

295 (2.5%)

 ≥ 7

1309 (11.3%)

Opioid prescription within 1 year after metastatic diagnosis date, N (%)

20,146 (81.4%)

Number of opioid prescriptions [among patients with use after diagnosis], N (%)

1

4903 (24.0%)

2

4127 (20.2%)

3

2701 (13.2%)

4

1833 (9.0%)

5

1279 (6.3%)

6

913 (4.5%)

≥ 7

4660 (22.8%)