• Skip to main content
Search
  • Home
  • Services
      • Behavioral Health
      • Bloodless Medicine
      • Brain & Spine
      • Cancer Care
      • Ear, Nose and Throat
      • Emergency Care
      • Senior Health
      • Heart & Vascular Care
      • Home Health Care
      • Immediate Care
      • Medical Imaging
      • Minimally Invasive Surgery
      • Orthopedics
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Rehabilitation Services
      • Weight Loss Surgery
      • Wound Healing & Care
      • Women's Health
  • Doctors
      • Find a Primary Care Doctor
      • Find a Doctor
      • Physician Referral
      • Practices:

        Baptist Primary Care
      • Baptist AgeWell
      • Baptist Behavioral Health
      • Baptist Endocrinology
      • Baptist ENT Specialists
      • Baptist Heart Specialists
      • Baptist Infectious Diseases
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Physicians
      • Baptist Neurology
      • Baptist Pediatrics
      • Baptist Pulmonary Specialists (Nassau)
      • Baptist Rheumatology
      • Baptist Urology Group (Nassau)
      • Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute
      • Lyerly Neurosurgery
  • Locations
    • Our Hospitals:

      • Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville
      • Baptist Medical Center South
      • Baptist Medical Center Beaches
      • Baptist Medical Center Nassau
      • Baptist Heart Hospital
      • Wolfson Children's Hospital

      Emergency Rooms (ER):

      • All ER Locations

      Imaging:

      • By Location

      • Imaging Center Locations
      • By Service

      • MRI
      • Bone Density
      • Screening Mammography
      • Diagnostic Mammography
      • Ultrasound
      • Vascular Ultrasound
      • CT Scan
      • PET Scan
      • Nuclear Medicine
      • X-Ray

      Urgent Care Locations:

      • Baptist Health Clinics at Walgreens
      • CareSpot Urgent Care

      Outpatient Locations:

      • AgeWell Center for Senior Health
      • Baptist Clay Medical Campus
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center
      • Baptist Neurodiagnostic Center
      • Baptist North Medical Campus
      • Heart and Vascular Testing Centers
      • Hill Breast Center
      • Infusion Center
      • Pharmacy
      • Rehabilitation Centers
      • Robotic Spine Surgery
      • Sleep Centers
      • Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center
      • Surgery Centers
      • Wound Care

      Health & Wellness:

      • 4her Wellness Resources for Women
      • JCA Wellness Connexion
      • Y Healthy Living Centers
  • Patient Info
      • Billing & Insurance Information
      • Insurance Plans Accepted
      • Cost Estimate Request
      • Financial Assistance Program
      • My Baptist Connect (Patient Portal)
      • Medical Records
      • Classes and Events
      • Clinical Trials
      • Tell Us What You Think
  • Health Library
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Symptoms
      • Tests
      • Surgeries and Procedures
      • Injuries
      • Nutrition
      • Poison
      • Drug Information
      • Drug Images
      • Health News
      • Video Library
  • About Us
      • Administration
      • Awards & Honors
      • Careers
      • Provider Opportunities
      • Baptist MD Anderson Provider Opportunities
      • Spiritual Care
      • Social Responsibility
      • Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA)
      • Corporate Wellness (PATH)
      • Volunteering
      • Newsroom
  • Juice
      • Health News Overview:

      • Aging Well
      • Brain, Spine & Nerve
      • Cancer
      • Child Health
      • Community Health
      • Diabetes
      • Ear, Nose & Throat
      • Heart & Vascular
      • Lungs, Breathing & Sleep
      • Mental Health
      • Orthopedics, Bones & Muscles
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Wellness
      • Women's Health
      • Men's Health
  1. Home
  2. Health Library
  3. Health News
  4. Opioid Prescriptions Almost Twice as Likely for Rural vs. Urban Americans

Opioid Prescriptions Almost Twice as Likely for Rural vs. Urban Americans

THURSDAY, Jan. 17, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- As the United States battles an epidemic of opioid abuse, people living in rural areas have nearly two times the odds of being prescribed the painkillers when compared to their urban peers.

That's the finding from a new study that suggests more must be done to curb opioid prescribing by doctors in rural America.

The research was based on 2014-2017 data from Athenahealth, a major data management firm for doctors' offices and hospitals nationwide. The company's services help manage the medical files of more than 86 million patients nationwide.

The new study found that, overall, prescriptions for opioid medications have been declining, especially since March of 2016, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new prescribing guidelines.

But the decline hasn't been the same everywhere, according to researchers led by CDC investigator Macarena Garcia. Her team reports that patients in "the most rural counties had an 87 percent higher chance of receiving an opioid prescription compared with persons in large central metropolitan counties during the study period."

Combining all areas covered by the analysis, 7.4 percent of patients received an opioid prescription during the period between January 2014 and January 2015.

By the end of the study -- a period from March 2016 through March 2017 -- that rate had fallen to 6.4 percent, Garcia's team reported.

However, a big gap remained in terms of prescribing rates for rural versus urban Americans.

By March of 2017, just 5 percent of patients living in the most urban counties had received an opioid prescription over the past year, compared to 9 percent of those in the most rural counties, the investigators found.

Two addiction experts said the findings show more must be done to reach rural areas hard-hit by the opioid scourge.

"The study provides a wake-up call regarding the prescribing habits among primary care providers, and the stark contrast in rural compared to urban settings," said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

"Armed with this data, it's clear we need to develop interventions and direct resources to make changes in prescribing preferences in rural settings," he said.

Dr. Harshal Kirane directs addiction services at Staten Island University Hospital, also in New York City. He called the overall decline in opioid prescriptions "encouraging news."

But Kirane added that reductions in opioid prescription rates could have unforeseen negative consequences, especially in underserved rural areas.

"In communities with limited access to addiction treatment, decreased access to prescription opioids can contribute to a surge in demand for heroin or illicit opioids," Kirane said.

So, if the aim is to encourage rural physicians to write fewer opioid prescriptions, "resources and support must be given to expand access to addiction care," he explained.

Addiction care services that work include "overdose education, naloxone [Narcan and Evzio] distribution and medication-assisted treatment services," Kirane said.

The new report was published Jan. 18 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about the opioid crisis.

SOURCES: Robert Glatter, M.D., emergency physician, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Harshal Kirane, M.D., director, addiction services, Staten Island University Hospital, New York City; Jan. 18, 2019, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Daily Health and Medical News

  • Babies May 'See' Light While in the Womb
    December 03, 2019

  • Uncontrolled Asthma a Danger to Pregnant Women, Babies
    December 03, 2019

  • Are E-Scooters a Quick Ticket to the ER?
    December 03, 2019

  • Taking Several Prescription Drugs May Trigger Serious Side Effects
    December 03, 2019

  • AHA News: Vegan Diet May Decrease Heart Disease, Stroke Risk in African Americans
    December 03, 2019

© Copyright 2019 | All Rights Reserved

If you speak another language, assistance services
free of charge, are available to you.

Baptist Health Facebook Baptist Health Twitter Baptist Health on LinkedIn Baptist Health on Instagram Baptist Health on Youtube
Physician Login | Application Login | Employee Login
Quality Measures | Privacy | Non-Discrimination | Comments | Site Map