Purpose of Review

Deaths associated to tramadol, a synthetic opioid, are rising globally. Herein, we characterize prescription patterns of tramadol relative to other opioids in the USA from 2012 to 2015, by geographic region and physician specialty.

Recent Findings

Data on opioid was obtained using Truven Health Analytics MarketScan for the years 2012–2015. Inclusion criteria included subjects living in the USA with ages from 12 to 64 years. Patterns of prescription of tramadol were contrasted with other prescription opioids including hydrocodone, codeine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, methadone, and fentanyl. Between 2012 and 2015, prescriptions for tramadol increased by 22.8%. The absolute rate of prescription varies considerably per region, with tramadol representing nearly 20% of opioid prescriptions in the South, which, in turn, represents nearly 50% of all prescriptions in the USA. Significant differences were seen when comparing prescribers of tramadol with other opioids (p < 0.0001). Tramadol was more frequently prescribed by family practice (40% vs. 32%) and internal medicine physicians (19% vs. 16%). Family medicine, internal medicine, and non-physician prescribers responded by 67.2% of all tramadol prescriptions in 2015. The proportion of patients receiving tramadol from non-physician prescribers increased by 56% between 2012 and 2015 (p < 0.001) IOM.

Summary

Tramadol prescriptions rates have continuously increased both nationally and throughout all US regions. Important differences exist among regions and physician specialties. These results may be helpful in the creation of regional policies to monitor reasons for this increase and to avoid excessive use of tramadol.

中文翻译：

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在美国的4年期曲马多处方。

审查目的

合成阿片类药物曲马多的死亡率在全球范围内呈上升趋势。在此，我们按地区和医师专业描述了2012年至2015年美国曲马多相对于其他阿片类药物的处方模式。

最近的发现

使用Truven Health Analytics MarketScan获得了2012年至2015年的阿片类药物数据。纳入标准包括居住在美国的12至64岁年龄段的受试者。曲马多的处方方式与其他处方阿片类药物形成对比，包括氢可酮，可待因，羟考酮，羟吗啡酮，美沙酮和芬太尼。在2012年至2015年期间，曲马多的处方药增加了22.8％。绝对处方率在每个地区都存在很大差异，在美国南部，曲马多占阿片类药物处方的近20％，而在美国，阿片类药物占阿片类药物处方的近50％。将曲马多的处方者与其他阿片类药物进行比较时，观察到显着差异（p <0.0001）。家庭医生（40％比32％）和内科医师（19％比16％）更频繁地服用曲马多。2015年，家庭药物，内科药物和非医师处方者占所有曲马多处方的67.2％。从非医师处方接受曲马朵的患者比例在2012年至2015年期间增加了56％（p  <0.001）IOM。

概要

曲马多处方率在全国乃至整个美国地区都在持续增长。地区和医师专业之间存在重要差异。这些结果可能有助于制定区域政策以监测这种增加的原因并避免过度使用曲马多。