Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020
Abstract Objective This study examines the relationship between opioid use disorder (OUD) and healthcare use, especially regarding length of stay, total charges, and costs in U.S. hospitals from 2005 to 2020. Methods We used the Healthcare Cost & Utilization Projects (HCUP) National Inpatient Sa...
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2025-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-13095-9 |
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| author | Fares Qeadan Alexander Nicolson Benjamin Tingey Maurice L. Moffett Sunday Azagba |
| author_facet | Fares Qeadan Alexander Nicolson Benjamin Tingey Maurice L. Moffett Sunday Azagba |
| author_sort | Fares Qeadan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Objective This study examines the relationship between opioid use disorder (OUD) and healthcare use, especially regarding length of stay, total charges, and costs in U.S. hospitals from 2005 to 2020. Methods We used the Healthcare Cost & Utilization Projects (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data to compare these outcomes between patients with and without OUD. We applied generalized linear modeling (GLM) with gamma distribution and log link to assess the effect of OUD on the three outcomes. Results Our results show that hospital stays for patients with OUD were significantly longer, while total charges and costs were lower than those without OUD. Over time, there was a tendency towards convergence between total charges and costs for OUD and non-OUD patients. The study also revealed that the severity of illness was strongly related to length of stay, total charge, and total cost, and OUD patients with greater illness severity and comorbid conditions demonstrated increased outcomes compared to those without OUD, with increased total costs and charges in 2020. Conclusions Our results offer important insights into the healthcare impact of OUD. Future studies should use patient-level data to better understand the overall healthcare use per person rather than per hospital stay, as well as more recent years of data to study greater Covid-19 specific impacts. Implications The study emphasizes the need for more efforts to decrease the prevalence of OUD in the U.S. to help ease the pressure on the healthcare system. It also demonstrates the potential influence of the severity of illness and comorbidity on healthcare use, suggesting a need for specific interventions for patients with severe conditions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-49be565c179b48209f59e7fd618f1efc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-49be565c179b48209f59e7fd618f1efc2025-08-20T03:03:24ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632025-07-0125111210.1186/s12913-025-13095-9Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020Fares Qeadan0Alexander Nicolson1Benjamin Tingey2Maurice L. Moffett3Sunday Azagba4Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Loyola UniversityParkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Loyola UniversityParkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Loyola UniversityThe Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York UniversityNese College of Nursing, Penn State University, (State College)Abstract Objective This study examines the relationship between opioid use disorder (OUD) and healthcare use, especially regarding length of stay, total charges, and costs in U.S. hospitals from 2005 to 2020. Methods We used the Healthcare Cost & Utilization Projects (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data to compare these outcomes between patients with and without OUD. We applied generalized linear modeling (GLM) with gamma distribution and log link to assess the effect of OUD on the three outcomes. Results Our results show that hospital stays for patients with OUD were significantly longer, while total charges and costs were lower than those without OUD. Over time, there was a tendency towards convergence between total charges and costs for OUD and non-OUD patients. The study also revealed that the severity of illness was strongly related to length of stay, total charge, and total cost, and OUD patients with greater illness severity and comorbid conditions demonstrated increased outcomes compared to those without OUD, with increased total costs and charges in 2020. Conclusions Our results offer important insights into the healthcare impact of OUD. Future studies should use patient-level data to better understand the overall healthcare use per person rather than per hospital stay, as well as more recent years of data to study greater Covid-19 specific impacts. Implications The study emphasizes the need for more efforts to decrease the prevalence of OUD in the U.S. to help ease the pressure on the healthcare system. It also demonstrates the potential influence of the severity of illness and comorbidity on healthcare use, suggesting a need for specific interventions for patients with severe conditions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-13095-9Opioid use disorderHealthcare utilizationLength of stayTotal chargesTotal costsHCUP National inpatient sample |
| spellingShingle | Fares Qeadan Alexander Nicolson Benjamin Tingey Maurice L. Moffett Sunday Azagba Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020 BMC Health Services Research Opioid use disorder Healthcare utilization Length of stay Total charges Total costs HCUP National inpatient sample |
| title | Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020 |
| title_full | Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020 |
| title_fullStr | Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020 |
| title_short | Healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in U.S. Hospitals: an analysis of length of stay, total charges, and costs, 2005–2020 |
| title_sort | healthcare utilization trends among patients with opioid use disorder in u s hospitals an analysis of length of stay total charges and costs 2005 2020 |
| topic | Opioid use disorder Healthcare utilization Length of stay Total charges Total costs HCUP National inpatient sample |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-13095-9 |
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