Opioid use is common among workers injured at work. A new study focuses on low-back injuries, which are common claims in workers’ compensation and exhibit a higher use of opioids—including the longer-term prescriptions on which we focus—than most other injuries. In addition, evidence-based treatment guidelines recommend against long-term use of opioids for most of these cases, suggesting that some prescriptions may be excessive.

The focus on a single type of injury makes it easier to compare workers with similar injury severity, and hence ensure that the variation in prescriptions is not driven by differences in type of injury or injury severity.

What is a reasonable expectation for policy to actually reduce longer-term opioid use and, if such a policy succeeded, how much would we expect the duration of temporary disability benefits to fall? Evidence is available from legislation in Kentucky aimed at reducing opioids through a prescription-monitoring database, limiting the amounts prescribed, and educating providers. The policy led to a 10-percentage-point decline in claims with pain medications that included any opioids, and a 6-percentage-point decline in claims with pain medications that had two or more opioid prescriptions.

Applying a similar policy change nationally across the states in our sample would translate to a 12.6% decrease in the duration of temporary disability, resulting in an average of 2.8 weeks shorter temporary disability for workers with low-back injuries.

An alternative to legislation: hands-on, opioid-free chiropractic care from an expert in low-back pain relief — your local chiropractor.

Presented as a service to the community by: Union County Chiropractic Clinic, 110 Skyline Drive, Maynardville, TN (865) 992-7000 www.unioncountychiropractic.com.