{"id":"b1d3771f-9268-4d3a-838b-a88c7721316d","slug":"chronic-opioid-prescription-rates-in-older-adults-a-comparison-of-academic-and-nonacademic-centers-following-long-segment-lumbar-instrumentation","title":"Chronic opioid prescription rates in older adults: A comparison of academic and nonacademic centers following long-segment lumbar instrumentation","authors":["Janesh Karnati","Shameel Abid","Ahmed Ashraf","Leina Lunasco","Aydin Kaghazchi","Andrew Wu","Xu Tao","Gabriel Jelkin","Sruthi Ranganathan","Sachin Shankar","Mikayla Wallace","Joseph Cheng","Owoicho Adogwa"],"abstract":"Background: Factors influencing opioid prescribing include provider type, clinical experience, regional patterns, and institutional affiliation. This study compared the rates of chronic opioid prescriptions being given to older adults undergoing long-segment posterior lumbar fusions in academic versus nonacademic centers. Methods: Out of 20,719 patients aged ≥65 years who underwent posterior lumbar instrumentation involving 3–12 thoracolumbar levels (2010–2022), we created two matched groups that included 3,904 patients each. Patients were stratified according to whether they were treated in academic versus nonacademic centers. Matching included the utilization of 1:1 demographic and clinical factors and analyzed for opioid prescribing patterns at 3–6, 6–12, and 12–24 months postoperatively. Results: We found that patients operated on in nonacademic centers showed significantly lower odds of receiving codeine-based opioids at 3–6 and 6–12 months postoperatively. Conversely, at 12–24 postoperative months, these patients had increased odds of receiving noncodeine-based, strong, and moderate opioids versus academic center patients. Conclusion: For two cohorts of 3904 adults over 65 years of age undergoing 3–12 level thoracolumbar instrumented fusions, academic centers prescribed more opioids initially postoperatively, while nonacademic centers demonstrated higher long-term usage.","thumbnailUrl":"https://sni-digital-videos.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/b1d3771f-9268-4d3a-838b-a88c7721316d/featured/hero-1781558455153.png","publishDate":"2025-07-11T00:00:00.000Z","doi":"10.25259/SNI_486_2025","categories":["Spine","Original Article"],"fullTextUrl":"https://surgicalneurologyint.com/api/articles/b1d3771f-9268-4d3a-838b-a88c7721316d/pdf"}