An estimated 8.3 of every 1,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield members were diagnosed with “opioid use disorder” in 2016, five times the rate in 2010, according to a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association study released this week.

The report, “America’s Opioid Epidemic and Its Effect on the Nation’s Commercially Insured Population,” represents a comprehensive study of medical claims from BCBS members using opioid painkillers, as well as those diagnosed with opioid use disorder over a seven-year period.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is the state’s largest health insurer. 

Michigan has more opioid prescriptions than people in a year

Below are 11 findings from the nationwide study.

This chart shows the prescription regimen in 2015 for 6.3 million patients nationwide that were given opioids.

The study categorized prescription regimens  on the basis of duration (number of days) and dosage (strength), consistent with CDC convention. For duration, regimens greater than 90 days are considered long duration and those less than 90 days short duration. High dosage is defined in terms of the morphine-equivalent daily dose being more than 100 while low dosage is defined as a morphine-equivalent daily dose of less than 100.

It shows 6% had a high dosage for a long duration, 39% had a low dosage for a long duration, 1% had high dosage for short duration, and 54% had a low dosage for a short duration.

Nationwide, the diagnosis of opioid use disorder increased 493 percent from 2010 to 2016, the study said, with a marked increase in diagnoses starting in 2014. “The rise was driven potentially by increased awareness of the disorder,” the study said.

Nearly 1% of commercially-insured BCBS members were diagnosed with opioid use disorder in 2016. 

Patients with a high-dosage opioid prescription for a short period are much more likely to become addicted than patients with a low dosage for a long period, the study found.

“An opioid use disorder diagnosis is more than 40 times as likely in patients who fill high-dose, short-duration regimens than it is for those who fill low-dose, short-duration regimens,” the study said.

An opioid use disorder diagnosis is seven times more likely in patients who fill high-dose, long-duration regimens than it is for those who fill low-dose, long-duration regimens, according to the study.

No surprise, “a preliminary analysis of opioid prescription regimens show that regimens of longer durations and higher dosages are associated with higher rates of opioid use disorder,” the study said.

Nationwide, two-thirds — 68% — of those getting opioid prescriptions are getting the drug for less than 90 days, and half are getting an opioid prescription for two weeks or less. This graphic looks just at that 68%.

Women have higher rates of prescription opioid use than men, particularly between the ages of 20 and 50, the study said.

Younger men have higher rates of opioid use disorder than women. This trend reverses after the age of 45 for women, consistent with the finding that women age 45 and older also have longer prescription durations, the study said