Population- and individual-level trajectories of opioid prescription patterns among adults with cerebral palsy: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: There is little epidemiologic evidence on opioid prescription among adults with cerebral palsy (CP). AIM: To describe the population- and individual-level opioid prescription patterns for adults with versus without CP. METHOD: This retrospective cohort study used commercial claims (Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database) from the USA from 01/01/2011–12/31/2017 from adults ≥ 18 years old with CP and matched adults without CP. For the population-level analysis, monthly estimates of opioid exposure were described for adults ≥ 18 years old with CP and matched adults without CP. For the individual-level analysis, group based trajectory modelling (GBTM) was used to identify groups of similar individual-level monthly opioid exposure patterns for adults with CP and matched adults without CP for 1-year starting from their first opioid exposure month. RESULTS: For the population-level, adults with (n = 13,929) versus without (n = 278,538) CP had a higher prevalence of opioid exposure (~ 12%, ~ 8%) and days supplied (median, ~ 23, ~17) monthly over 7 years. For the individual-level, there were 6 trajectory groups for CP (n = 2099) and 5 for non-CP (n = 10,361). Notably, 14% of CP (comprising 4 distinct trajectory groups) and 8% (comprising 3 distinct groups) of non-CP had variably high monthly opioid volume for extended periods; exposure was higher for CP. The remaining had low/absent opioid exposure trajectories; for CP (non-CP), 55.7% (63.3%) had nearly absent exposure and 30.4% (28.9%) had consistently low exposure to opioids. CONCLUSION: Adults with versus without CP were more likely to be exposed to opioids and for a longer duration, which may alter the risk-benefit balance of opioids. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11096-023-01553-5.