{
  "abstract": "Background We examined whether an observed opioid prescribed-medicine event linked to the same condition as a surgical/procedural event in year 1 was associated with all-cause emergency department (ED) use in year 2 and whether this association differed by poverty status. These medication events represent medicines reported as purchased or otherwise obtained; the linkage does not establish postoperative timing. Materials and methods We pooled four two-year Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) panels: 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022. Adults were eligible when a year-1 surgical/procedural event was linked to a condition record. The exposure was one or more observed year-1 opioid prescribed-medicine events linked to that same condition, compared to none. The primary outcome was the year-2 annual all-cause ED visit count, and the secondary outcome was any year-2 ED use. Survey-weighted quasi-Poisson and logistic models were adjusted for demographic characteristics, poverty, insurance, year-1 utilization, health status, surgical settings, surgical-event burden, and panel. Adjusted outcomes were standardized over the analytic population. A prespecified interaction compared people below with at or above 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Results Among 4,468 eligible adults, 4,454 (99.7%) were complete cases, and 816 of 4,454 (18.3%) had an observed condition-linked opioid prescribed-medicine event. Adjusted mean annual ED visits were 0.336 (95% confidence interval {CI}: 0.275-0.412) with and 0.345 (95% CI: 0.311-0.382) without a linked opioid prescribed-medicine event. The adjusted mean ratio was 0.975 (95% CI, 0.784-1.211; p=0.8165), and the mean difference was -0.009 visits (95% CI, -0.082 to 0.065; p=0.8150). Any year-2 ED use occurred in 194 of 816 exposed participants (survey-weighted, 22.5%; 95% CI, 18.9%-26.1%) and 845 of 3,638 comparators (survey-weighted, 21.5%; 95% CI, 19.7%-23.3%). The exposure-by-poverty interaction did not provide evidence of heterogeneity (ratio of ratios, 1.112; 95% CI, 0.751-1.649; F=0.284; p=0.5943). The adjusted risk difference for any ED use was -1.9 percentage points (95% CI, -5.7 to 1.8; p=0.3073). Conclusions No clear adjusted association was detected between an observed year-1 condition-linked opioid prescribed-medicine event and year-2 annual all-cause ED use. The estimates were imprecise and do not establish equivalence, the absence of an association, or socioeconomic equity. The exposure cannot be classified as postoperative because the procedure-medication sequence was not established.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Clearwater, USA.",
    "Family Medicine, Southwest Florida Medicine, Bradenton, USA."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Dhruv Patel"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Akshita Wadhwa"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Karina V Eolyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Areesh Lalani"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Azim Lalani"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1a8ef61tzbf7c.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.7759/cureus.116608",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13683817",
  "id": "1a8ef61tzbf7c",
  "issns": [
    "2168-8184"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909196",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Opioid Use Disorder Treatment"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213758283",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13683817?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13683817",
  "pmid": "42909196",
  "published": "2026-09-20",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1a8ef61tzbf7c.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:14Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42909196",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909196"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Opioid Use Disorder Treatment",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Condition-Linked Opioid Prescribed-Medicine Events and Subsequent Emergency Department Use Among Adults With Surgical or Procedural Events: A Longitudinal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Study.",
  "title_text": "Condition-Linked Opioid Prescribed-Medicine Events and Subsequent Emergency Department Use Among Adults With Surgical or Procedural Events: A Longitudinal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Study.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:14Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1a8ef61tzbf7c",
  "venue": "Cureus",
  "versions": []
}