From Trends in Opioid Use Among Social Security Disability Insurance Applicants by April Yanyuan Wu, Denise Hoffman, and Paul O’Leary:
... [W]e examined the prevalence of reported opioid use in a 30 percent random sample of initial-level SSDI applications stored in the Social Security Administration’s Structured Data Repository (SDR) from 2007 through 2017, considering differences by demographic and other factors. ...
Over the 11-year analysis period, more than 30 percent of SSDI applicants reported using one or more opioids. This is higher than the rate of opioid use in the general population (29 versus 19 percent in 2016). ...
Reported opioid use varied by age and demographic characteristics. SSDI applicants ages 40–49 were the most likely age group to report opioid use; women were 3-4 percentage points more likely to report opioid use than men; and people with some college were the most likely education group to report opioid use.
Reported opioid use is also correlated with application type. SSDI-only applicants who reported opioid use were 4-6 percentage points more likely to report opioid use than concurrent SSDI and SSI applicants.
Reported opioid use varied greatly between geographic areas. Applicants from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC, reported lower-than-average rates of opioid use in 2007 and consistently throughout the analysis period. Conversely, applicants from Delaware, Nevada, and Michigan consistently reported the highest rates of opioid use. ...
Even without scientific proof, I think I can say without fear of contradiction that there are other medications used at a higher rate among disability applicants than among the population in general, such as medications for hypertension and diabetes, NSAIDS, muscle relaxants, diuretics, anticoagulants, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antipsychotics, etc. My point is that we should expect a significant amount of opioid usage among disability applicants. Many of them are in pain and need opioid medications to help them cope. Opioids can be abused but they have important legitimate uses.
Hmmm. I am not "sure" which of the following this "scientific study" is:
ReplyDelete1. Junk Science
2. Amateur Science
3. A smear piece DISGUISED as Science
4. A "humor" piece that imitates science like The Onion imitates journalism.
Under "Limitations," the authors state, "our estimates...do not control for several factors that may affect award and death. Notably, we did not include controls for impairment, disability severity, overall health status, and work history."
The paper uses "opioid use" without defining it. As if they want to imply abuse, even where only legitimate, doctor prescribed use occurred. Also, they make no distinction between a limited, surgical application and illicit opioid abuse. Combined with the self-admited limitations, what value is this "study?"
I am going with number 3. However, with statements like, "From 2007 to 2016, there was a rise a rise in SSDI awards made to applicants with musculoskeletal conditions, which are often associated with opioid use." Is this just a poorly worded sentence, or are they suggesting opioids CAUSE musculoskeletal conditions? Because of this and the "da" nature of the paper, I can't RULE OUT number 4.