Study: 2% of women have ‘persistent’ opioid use after childbirth
Physicians thinking about prescribing opioid painkillers for women around the time of delivery should think twice, a new study suggests, because some go on to “persistent” opioid use.
A report published Friday in JAMA Network Open examined opioid prescriptions among more than 300,000 women who gave birth between 2008 and 2016. Nearly half were given an opioid prescription shortly before or after giving birth. Among the women who filled the prescriptions, about 2% showed signs of “persistent” opioid use, defined as two subsequent refills within one year after the delivery. These prescriptions are short, on average about one to two weeks of medication.
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