Prescribing Practices Amid the OxyContin Crisis: Examining the Effect of Print Media Coverage on Opioid Prescribing Among Physicians

Borwein, Alexandra; Kephart, George; Whelan, Emma; Asbridge, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2013.08.012

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This study confirms the findings of previous work showing that media coverage can be associated with prescribing changes, especially when safety issues are identified 15. Sometimes the changes observed are seemingly mediated through the prescribers’ response to media reports,34 as in our study. In other instances, it would appear that patient responses play a key role in the changes observed 17…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Public reporting of antipsychotic prescribing in nursing homes: population-based interrupted time series analyses

et al. 2018

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BackgroundAlthough sometimes appropriate, antipsychotic medications are associated with increased risk of significant adverse events. In 2014, a series of newspaper articles describing high prescribing rates in nursing homes in Ontario, Canada, garnered substantial interest. Subsequently, an online public reporting initiative with home-level data was launched. We examined the impact of these public reporting interventions on antipsychotic prescribing in nursing homes.MethodsTime series analysis of all nursing home residents in Ontario, Canada, between 1 October 2013 and 31 March 2016. The primary outcome was the proportion of residents prescribed antipsychotics each month. Balance measures were prescriptions for common alternative sedating agents (benzodiazepines and/or trazodone). We used segmented regression to assess the effects on prescription trends of the newspaper articles and the online home-level public reporting initiative.ResultsWe included 120 009 nursing home resident admissions across 636 nursing homes. Following the newspaper articles, the proportion of residents prescribed an antipsychotic decreased by 1.28% (95% CI 1.08% to 1.48%) and continued to decrease at a rate of 0.2% per month (95% CI 0.16% to 0.24%). The online public reporting initiative did not alter this trend. Over 3 years, there was a net absolute reduction in antipsychotic prescribing of 6.0% (95% CI 5.1% to 6.9%). Trends for benzodiazepine prescribing did not change as substantially during the period of observation. Trazodone use has been gradually increasing, but its use did not change abruptly at the time of the mass media report or the public reporting initiative.InterpretationThe rapid impact of mass media on prescribing suggests both an opportunity to use this approach to invoke change and a warning to ensure that such reporting occurs responsibly.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Public reporting of antipsychotic prescribing in nursing homes: population-based interrupted time series analyses

et al. 2018

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“…The primary goal of this work was to understand how recommendations for disposing of unused prescription opioids, including both take-back programs and toilet disposal, are communicated to the public. News media communication was examined as it plays a key role in disseminating important health information to the general public and has been shown to influence both patterns of prescribing opioid medication among health care providers [19] and public discourse on policy topics [20]. The role that the news media plays in the communication of unused prescription opioid disposal practices has not been investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication of Recommendations for the Disposal of Unused Prescription Opioid Medications by Stakeholders in the News Media

2019

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Objective The opioid epidemic is a national public health emergency that requires a comprehensive approach to reduce opioid-related deaths. Proper and timely disposal of unused prescription opioids is one method to deter improper use of these medications and prevent overdose. The objective of this study was to understand how recommendations for disposing of unused prescription opioids, including both take-back programs and toilet disposal, are communicated to the public. Methods Two hundred sixty-three US newspaper articles published between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2017, containing information on opioids and take-back programs were found using LexisNexis. Using content analysis, articles were coded for the presentation of and recommendation for opioid disposal practices, beliefs about environmental harm from toilet disposal, and additional strategies to reduce opioid supply. The entity responsible for the statement was also captured. Results Take-back programs were presented as a recommended disposal strategy for unused prescription opioids in 88.6% of coded articles. Toilet disposal was presented as a recommended disposal strategy for unused prescription opioids in 3.4% of articles and as harmful to the environment in 16.0% of articles. Individuals from health care, government, and law enforcement were primarily involved in discussing opioid disposal practices. Conclusions Although toilet disposal is recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for disposal of unused prescription opioids when a take-back program is not readily available, it was infrequently presented or recommended in news media articles. These results highlight the importance of improving communication of FDA guidelines for opioid disposal in the media, particularly by health care providers, government employees, and law enforcement officials.

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“…As the opioid crisis is a relatively new public health problem, previous research on media coverage of the opioid epidemic in the United States is limited. Borwein et al [ 15 ] found that print news media in North America portrayed the opioid analgesic oxycodone as a social problem, which coincided with the reduction in oxycodone prescriptions by doctors in Nova Scotia, Canada, but the authors were not able to determine a causal relationship. McGinty et al [ 9 ] studied how opioid analgesic use was depicted by the US print and television media from 1998 to 2012, revealing that in the United States, the issue was commonly framed as a criminal justice problem requiring legal solutions rather than a remediable public health issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Volume of News Reporting and Opioid-Related Deaths in the United States: Comparative Analysis Study of Geographic and Socioeconomic Differences

Hswen¹,

Zhang²,

Freifeld³

et al. 2020

J Med Internet Res

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Background News media coverage is a powerful influence on public attitude and government action. The digitization of news media covering the current opioid epidemic has changed the landscape of coverage and may have implications for how to effectively respond to the opioid crisis. Objective This study aims to characterize the relationship between volume of online opioid news reporting and opioid-related deaths in the United States and how these measures differ across geographic and socioeconomic county-level factors. Methods Online news reports from February 2018 to April 2019 on opioid-related events in the United States were extracted from Google News. News data were aggregated at the county level and compared against opioid-related death counts. Ordinary least squares regression was used to model opioid-related death rate and opioid news coverage with the inclusion of socioeconomic and geographic explanatory variables. Results A total of 35,758 relevant news reports were collected representing 1789 counties. Regression analysis revealed that opioid-related death rate was positively associated with news reporting. However, opioid-related death rate and news reporting volume showed opposite correlations with educational attainment and rurality. When controlling for variation in death rate, counties in the Northeast were overrepresented by news coverage. Conclusions Our results suggest that regional variation in the volume of opioid-related news reporting does not reflect regional variation in opioid-related death rate. Differences in the amount of media attention may influence perceptions of the severity of opioid epidemic. Future studies should investigate the influence of media reporting on public support and action on opioid issues.

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Prescribing Practices Amid the OxyContin Crisis: Examining the Effect of Print Media Coverage on Opioid Prescribing Among Physicians

Cited by 19 publications

References 15 publications

Public reporting of antipsychotic prescribing in nursing homes: population-based interrupted time series analyses

Public reporting of antipsychotic prescribing in nursing homes: population-based interrupted time series analyses

Communication of Recommendations for the Disposal of Unused Prescription Opioid Medications by Stakeholders in the News Media

Evaluation of Volume of News Reporting and Opioid-Related Deaths in the United States: Comparative Analysis Study of Geographic and Socioeconomic Differences

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