Study finds VA prescribes far more opioids to rural veterans - Entrepreneur Generations

Doctors within the Veterans Health Administration prescribed rural veterans almost a third more opioids than urban veterans, according to a study analyzing outpatient prescription practices in the VA in 2016.

"While opioid prescribing by the VHA among rural veterans declined significantly from 2012 to 2016, it remains 'unclear as to why rates remain 32% higher than urban counterparts,' concluded the study, published in the most recent issue of the journal Military Medicine," Wyatt Olson reports for Stars and Stripes.

One reason: more rural vets use opioids long-term; rates of short-term use among rural and urban vets were similar, according to the study. A 2017 study also found that rural vets were far more likely to use opioids long-term. "The findings suggest that rural veterans with chronic pain use opioids for long periods because alternative treatments are available primarily in urban areas," Olson reports. "The hypothesis is supported by the study’s finding that VA facilities serving rural areas with more dense populations of veterans had smaller rural-urban differences in dispensed opioid volume — as compared to facilities treating the sparsest rural populations of veterans."

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2F8xvLO Study finds VA prescribes far more opioids to rural veterans - Entrepreneur Generations

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