The Effect of Primary Care Opioid Taper Plans on Sustained Opioid Taper

Opioid taper is now encouraged by many health care organizations, but it is unclear if explicit plans for opioid taper by primary care providers are effective at promoting tapering or discontinuation, and if they are effective, which components account for their effectiveness. Patients receiving long-term opioid therapy (LtOT), who are candidates for tapering, often perceive a low risk of overdose and a high risk of increased pain with opioid tapering. They fear opioid withdrawal and lack of effectiveness of non-opioid therapies. For patients with opioid tapering experience, support from family and a trusted health care provider eased opioid tapering. Many patients report improved quality of life following taper.

Little data exists on the optimal opioid taper strategy, including: use of long or short-acting opioids, frequency of clinic visits, use of adjunctive medications and the role of psychological support. Recent initiatives to reduce high-dose opioid use at Kaiser Permanente Washington offer an opportunity to study the effect of opioid taper plans and their components in an integrated care system with an electronic health record including all health encounters and pharmacy dispensing.

This study will report the proportion of LtOT patients who successfully taper compared to a similar group of LtOT patients who don't achieve tapering or discontinuation of tapering. We will also evaluate whether taper plans, defined by the patient's primary care provider, increase the likelihood of successfully tapering comparing the two groups cited above.

Inclusion criteria

• A cohort of patients enrolled in Kaiser Permanente Washington who were receiving high dose, long-term opioid therapy (LtOT) for treatment of chronic non-cancer pain during 2010-2017. High dose LtOT defined above.
• Patients must be age >18 years as of cohort entry and enrolled for at least 18 months during the study period.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients under 18 years old
• Patients with any cancer diagnosis, hospice, nursing home care, methadone maintenance, buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, cognitive impairment, spinal cord stimulator, or intrathecal opioids.