Abstract
BACKGROUND: The majority of opioid analgesics prescribed for pain after ambulatory pediatric surgery remain unused. Most parents do not dispose of these leftover opioids or dispose of them in an unsafe manner. We aimed to evaluate the association of optimal opioid disposal with a multidisciplinary quality improvement (QI) initiative that proactively educated parents about the importance of optimal opioid disposal practices and provided a home opioid disposal kit before discharge after pediatric ambulatory surgery. METHODS: Opioid disposal behaviors were assessed during a brief telephone interview pre- (Phase I) and post-implementation (Phase II) after surgery. For each phase, we aimed to contact the parents of 300 pediatric patients ages 0 to 17 years who were prescribed an opioid after an ambulatory surgery. The QI initiative included enhanced education and a home opioid disposal kit including DisposeRX ® , a medication disposal packet that renders medications inert within a polymeric gel when mixed with water. Weighted segmented regression models evaluated the association between the QI initiative and outcomes. We considered the association between the QI initiative and outcome significant if the beta coefficient for the change in intercept between the end of Phase I and the beginning of Phase II was significant. Safe opioid disposal and any opioid disposal were evaluated as secondary outcomes. RESULTS: The analyzed sample contained 161 pediatric patients in Phase I and 190 pediatric patients in Phase II. Phase II (post-QI initiative) cohort compared to Phase I cohort reported higher rates of optimal (58%, n = 111/190 vs 11%, n = 18/161) and safe (66%, n = 125/190 vs 34%, n = 55/161) opioid disposal. Weighted segmented regression analyses demonstrated significant increases in the odds of optimal (odds ratio [OR], 26.5, 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.0-177.0) and safe (OR, 4.4, 95% CI, 1.1-18.4) opioid disposal at the beginning of Phase II compared to the end of Phase I. The trends over time (slopes) within phases were nonsignificant and close to 0. The numbers needed to be exposed to achieve one new disposal event were 2.2 (95% CI, 1.4-3.7]), 3.1 (95% CI, 1.6-7.4), and 4.3 (95% CI, 1.7-13.6) for optimal, safe, and any disposal, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A multidisciplinary approach to educating parents on the importance of safe disposal of leftover opioids paired with dispensing a convenient opioid disposal kit was associated with increased odds of optimal opioid disposal.