Inappropriate Fentanyl Prescribing Among Nursing Home Residents in the United States

Objective

We quantified transdermal fentanyl prescribing in elderly nursing home residents without prior opioid use or persistent pain, and the association of individual and facility traits with opioid-naïve prescribing.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Linked Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments; Online Survey, Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) records; and Medicare Part D claims.

Participants

From a cross-section of all long-stay US nursing home residents in 2008 with an MDS assessment and Medicare Part D enrollment, we identified individuals (≥65 years old) who initiated transdermal fentanyl, excluding those with Alzheimer disease, severe cognitive impairment, cancer, or receipt of hospice care.

Measurements

We used Medicare Part D to select beneficiaries initiating transdermal fentanyl in 2008 and determined whether they were “opioid-naïve,” defined as no opioid dispensing during the previous 60 days. We obtained resident and facility characteristics from MDS and OSCAR records and defined persistent pain as moderate-to-severe, daily pain on consecutive MDS assessments at least 90 days apart. We estimated associations of patient and facility attributes and opioid-naïve fentanyl initiation using multilevel mixed effects logistic regression modeling.

Results

Among 17,052 residents initiating transdermal fentanyl, 6190 (36.3%) were opioid-naïve and 15,659 (91.8%) did not have persistent pain. In the regression analysis with adjustments, residents who were older (ages ≥95 odds ratio [OR] 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.46–1.95) or more cognitively impaired (moderate-to-severe cognitive impairment, OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.73–2.29) were more likely to initiate transdermal fentanyl without prior opioid use.

Conclusion

Most nursing home residents initiating transdermal fentanyl did not have persistent pain and many were opioid-naïve. Changes in prescribing practices may be necessary to ensure Food and Drug Administration warnings are followed, particularly for vulnerable subgroups, such as the cognitively impaired.