Racial Disparities in Receipt of Postoperative Opioids After Pediatric Cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND

Pediatric postoperative opioid prescribing has come under scrutiny as a result of the ongoing opioid epidemic. Previous research has demonstrated that African American adults are less likely to receive analgesics, particularly opioids, after surgery, even after controlling for pain severity. We sought to examine racial disparities in the filling of opioid prescriptions by pediatric surgical patients after cholecystectomy.

METHODS

We studied patients aged 1 to 18 y who were enrolled in Ohio Medicaid and underwent cholecystectomy. Procedures performed in January 2013-July 2016 were included. The percentage of patients who filled a postoperative opioid prescription within 14 d of their procedure was compared between black and white patients using log binomial regression models fit using generalized estimating equations to account for patient clustering within hospitals.

RESULTS

We identified 1277 patients who underwent a cholecystectomy. In unadjusted analyses, black children were significantly less likely than white children to fill an opioid prescription postoperatively (74.9% versus 85.7%, P < 0.001). After adjustment for patient-level clinical and demographic characteristics, we found that black children treated at non-children's hospitals in large-/medium-sized urban counties were significantly less likely to fill an opioid prescription after cholecystectomy when compared with white children treated at urban children's hospitals or to white children treated in non-children's hospitals in either large/medium urban counties or other counties. However, this association was partly explained by a longer average length of stay among black children.

CONCLUSIONS

Black children who undergo cholecystectomy at urban non-children's hospitals are less likely to fill a postoperative opioid prescription than white children who undergo cholecystectomy at those same hospitals or other hospitals. Further research is needed to identify whether this disparity is due to a lower rate of opioid prescribing or a lower rate of prescription filling.