At-Home Disposal Kits Increase Self-Disposal Rates of Opioids

FRIDAY, Jan. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Providing surgery patients with an opioid disposal kit at the time of discharge increases their self-disposal rates, according to a short report published online Jan. 1 in BMJ Open Quality.

Eric Shan, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues assessed the impact of opioid disposal kits on disposal rates after orthopedic surgery. The analysis included 1,321 eligible patients; comparisons were made for patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty from May to July 2022 versus July to September 2022 (when opioid disposal kits were provided at discharge).

The researchers found that disposal kits were associated with a 10.6 percentage point increase in disposal rates (20.8 to 28.4 percent) and a 10.5 percentage point increase in the fraction of opioids disposed (16.1 to 20.2 percent). The disposal kits were also found to be cost-effective, as each kit was valued at under $2.00.

“Any time we can cut down the number of opioids that could potentially circulate or be misused, it”s a positive step,” co-corresponding author Anish Agarwal, M.D., M.P.H., of the Center for Insights to Outcomes at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said in a statement. “If you can make the right decision the easy one, you”re much more likely to get a positive outcome, and I think that”s what we saw here.”

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