Opioid prescribing prevalence and initiation rates in Victoria, Australia: insights from primary care data during a period of opioid policy changes (2017–2022)

Opioid medications are widely prescribed for acute, chronic and cancer pain. In Australia, opioid prescribing rates remain high.

This study aimed to document patterns of primary care opioid prescribing from 2017 to 2022 by demographic characteristics in Victoria, Australia.

This study was a retrospective descriptive analysis, examining prescribing data sourced from the population level analysis and reporting general practice analytics platform. We examined monthly opioid prescription and initiation rates across diverse demographic factors such as age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and geographical location. Poisson regression was used to calculate rate ratios for the incidence of opioid initiation over time, adjusting for age, gender, and SES.

Between 2017 and 2022, tapentadol prescriptions increased by 263%, while prescription rates for other opioids declined. Females accounted for 53% of opioid prescriptions, but males had higher initiation rates. Initiation rates declined across most demographics, except for the 15–24 age group, which experienced a 69% increase. Socioeconomically disadvantaged and regional/remote populations showed higher prescribing rates but significant declines over time.

This study contributes valuable insights into the prescribing trends in primary health settings. The findings suggest targeted interventions to address socioeconomic and regional disparities are needed, to ensure the quality use of opioids across diverse populations.