Health Outcomes: Facts & Figures
Health Outcomes: Facts & Figures
A new Health Trends report from Quest Diagnostics found that almost 70 percent of physicians fear they missed signs of drug misuse during the pandemic, and, given how the global health crisis disrupted medical care, anticipate rising overdose deaths – especially those involving prescribed and non-prescribed (illicit) fentanyl – even as the pandemic subsides.
The new report comes on the heels of the approximately 96,779 drug overdose deaths between March 2020 and March 2021, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also builds on prior Health Trends research, including a 2019 report that examined physician attitudes on drug misuse and a 2020 report that showed positivity increased by 35 percent for non-prescribed fentanyl and 44 percent for heroin among tested individuals during the early months of the pandemic.
According to the Health Trends report, 67 percent of physicians worry that they have missed signs of drug misuse and use disorders (indicating addiction) among one or more of their patients during the pandemic, and 94 percent of primary care physicians report seeing more patients experiencing stress, anxiety, or other mental health issues because of the pandemic and fear a correlation between rising mental health issues and prescription drug misuse. Moreover, 98 percent of physicians say they are concerned about misuse of controlled substances in general compared to 75 percent saying the same for opioids.
The growth of telehealth during the pandemic may actually be hindering physicians’ ability to recognize danger signs. While many practices substituted or expanded telehealth for in-person care during the pandemic, 75 percent of physicians believe telehealth visits limit the ability to determine if patients are at risk for or are already misusing prescription drugs. 91 percent of physicians feel confident they can recognize the signs of prescription drug misuse during in-office interactions with patients, but only 50 percent report the same confidence via telehealth visits.
Quest’s data suggests that physicians are concerned patients will turn to illicit fentanyl given the lack of treatment options for chronic pain combined with reduced opioid prescribing; gabapentin is leading as medication of choice for chronic pain. 87 percent of physicians said they prescribed gabapentin for chronic pain in the past six months, far more than the two-thirds who prescribed opioids (65 percent), likely reflecting concerns about potential opioid misuse. 78 percent of physicians fear patients will turn to illicit fentanyl if they cannot get a prescription medication and 86 percent worry that illicit fentanyl will claim more lives than prescribed opioids. Quest Diagnostics laboratory data showed that positivity for non-prescribed fentanyl increased by 35 percent during the pandemic (from 4.3 percent to 5.8 percent) in tested patients.
Source: Quest Diagnostics Health Trend