Opioid-related clinical outcomes and associated healthcare costs following abuse/misuse of oxycodone formulations: A HEOR analysis from real-world data.

Abstract

Objective: The United States (US) opioid epidemic is a continued burden on the healthcare system and on the lives of individuals affected by the consequences of opioid abuse/misuse. The objective of this study was to use real-world data from intentional abuse/misuse exposures managed by US poison centers to compare clinical outcomes and quantify healthcare costs among three study cohorts: -exposures that involved Xtampza ER®, other oxycodone extended-release (ER), and oxycodone immediate-release (IR).

Study design: A real-world, observational study.

Main outcome measures: Descriptive statistics were used to describe patient and exposure characteristics. Drug utilization-adjusted rates of intentional abuse/misuse and clinical outcomes were used to determine relative risk. Healthcare cost estimates were calculated by extrapolating average charge per opioid-related disorder emergency department (ED) visit and per inpatient stay based upon case disposition rates, adjusted for population and drug utilization.

Results: Compared to Xtampza ER, exposures that involved other oxycodone ER were 7.4 times more likely to be intentional abuse/misuse, 25.9 times more likely to result in major effect or death, 9.7 times more likely to require a visit to the ED, and 14.3 times more likely to result in hospital admission. Similar results were found for oxycodone IR when compared to Xtampza ER.

Conclusions: This study is the first of its kind to synthesize clinical outcomes with opioid-related healthcare costs, suggesting that even when Xtampza ER is abused/misused, the rates of major effect/death, ED visits, and hospital admissions were significantly lower than those for other oxycodone-containing medications, resulting in relatively low downstream opioid-related healthcare costs.