Opioid prescribing to people on orthopaedic waiting lists during the covid-19 pandemic in England: retrospective cohort study using linked electronic health record data in OpenSAFELY-TPP
In this study, one in five people who received treatment for an elective orthopaedic procedure between May 2021 and April 2022 waited for more than one year. Nearly one in seven people were prescribed opioids long term before their referral date to the waiting list, and only small reductions in long term opioid prescribing were observed after a patient's procedure, regardless of length of time spent on the waiting list.
Authors
- Andrea L. Schaffer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3701-4997)
- Seb Bacon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6354-3454)
- Amir Mehrkar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2098-1278)
- Meghna Jani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1487-277X)
- Jane Quinlan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0212-4459)
- Rose Higgins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5295-4370)
- Helen J Curtis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3429-9576)
- Ben Goldacre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5127-4728)
- Brian MacKenna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3786-9063)
- Christopher Wood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5184-0606)
- Milan Wiedemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1991-282X)
- OpenSAFELY Collaborative
- Victoria Speed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5064-9375)
- Rebecca M Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3964-6733)
- Iain Dillingham
Institutions
- King's College - North Carolina (US)
- Angkor Hospital for Children (KH)
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
- Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Arthritis UK (GB)
- Thrombosis Research Institute (GB)
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (GB)
- King's College Hospital (GB)
- NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMJ Medicine
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjmed-2025-001743
- Primary Topic
- Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Medical Research Council