Association of worker characteristics and early reimbursement for physical therapy, chiropractic and opioid prescriptions with workers’ compensation claim duration, for cases of acute low back pain: an observational cohort study

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Published online 2015 Aug 26. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-007836

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Table 4

Observational studies exploring the association between early opioid use and workers’ compensation claim duration

Study	Population	Opioid variable tested	Adjustments	Dependent variable	Results for early opioid use*
Webster et al¹³	8443 American workers’ compensation claimants with new-onset, disabling LBP	Receipt of opioids within the first 15 days of claim	Injury severity, age, gender, length of job tenure	Change in mean disability duration	1–140 mg MEA 5.4 days, 95% CI −14.6 to 25.0 141–225 mg MEA 21.9 days, 95% CI 3.2 to 40.6 226–450 mg MEA 43.8 days, 95% CI 23.7 to 63.9 >450 mg MEA 69.1 days, 95% CI 49.3 to 89.0
Franklin et al¹⁴	1843 Washington, USA, workers’ compensation claimants with new-onset, disabling LBP	Reimbursement for opioids within 6 weeks of 1st medical visit for LBP	Age, gender, race, education, injury severity, pain intensity, Roland disability questionnaire	Receipt of wage replacement benefits at 1 year	1–150 mg MED OR=1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.1 151–300 mg MED OR=2.0, 95% CI=1.2 to 3.3 301–650 mg MED OR=1.6, 95% CI=0.9 to 2.6 >650 mg MED OR=1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.9
Gross et al¹⁵	47 784 Alberta, Canada, workers’ compensation claimants with new-onset, disabling LBP	Reimbursement for opioids within the first 2 weeks of claim	Age, gender, annual salary, year of claim, number of previous claims	Receipt of wage replacement benefits at 1 year	HR=1.94, 95% CI 1.86 to 2.02

*The reference group for each comparison was no early opioids.

LBP, low back pain; MEA, morphine equivalent amount; MED, morphine equivalent dose.