Association Between State Policies on Improving Opioid Prescribing in 2 States and Opioid Overdose Rates Among Reproductive-aged Women

Background: The opioid overdose epidemic has been declared a public health emergency. Women are more likely than men to be prescribed opioid medications. Some states have adopted policies to improve opioid prescribing, including prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and pain clinic laws. Objective: Among reproductive-aged women, we examined the association of mandatory use laws for PDMPs in Kentucky (concurrent with a pain clinic law) and New York with overdose involving prescription opioids or heroin and opioid use disorder (OUD). Study Design, Subjects, and Outcome Measures: We conducted interrupted time series analyses estimating outcome changes after policy implementation in Kentucky and New York, compared with geographically close states without these policies (comparison states), using 2010-2014 State Inpatient and State Emergency Department Databases. Outcomes included rates of inpatient discharges and emergency department visits for overdoses involving prescription opioids or heroin and OUD among reproductive-aged women. Results: Relative to comparison states, following Kentucky's policy change, we found an immediate postpolicy decrease and a decreasing trend in the rate of overdoses involving prescription opioids, an immediate postpolicy increase in the rate of overdoses involving heroin, and a decreasing trend in the OUD rate (P<0.01); New York's policy change was not associated with the assessed outcomes. Conclusions: PDMPs and pain clinic laws, such as those implemented in Kentucky, may be promising strategies to reduce the adverse impacts of high-risk opioid prescribing among reproductive-aged women. As states continue efforts to improve inappropriate opioid prescribing, similar strategies as those adopted in Kentucky merit consideration.