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Table 1 Characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries initiating tramadol, oxycodone, or hydrocodone after total hip and knee arthroplasty

From: Comparative safety of tramadol and other opioids following total hip and knee arthroplasty

Characteristic

Tramadol (n = 2,697)

Oxycodone (n = 11,407)

Hydrocodone (n = 14,665)

Age, y, n (%)

 65–74

1,414 (52.4)

7,709 (67.6)

9,143 (62.3)

 75–84

1,097 (40.7)

3,389 (29.7)

5,007 (34.1)

 85 + 

186 (6.9)

309 (2.7)

515 (3.5)

Female

1,890 (70.1)

6,142 (53.8)

8,470 (57.8)

Race/ethnicity, n (%)

 Non-Hispanic White

2,508 (93.0)

10,349 (90.7)

13,423 (91.5)

 Non-Hispanic Black

56 (2.1)

413 (3.6)

363 (2.5)

 Hispanic

69 (2.6)

283 (2.5)

512 (3.5)

 Other

64 (2.4)

362 (3.2)

367 (2.5)

Dual-eligible, n (%)

136 (5.0)

699 (6.1)

974 (6.6)

THA, n (%)

940 (34.9)

3,216 (28.2)

4,076 (27.8)

TKA, n (%)

1,757 (65.1)

8,191 (71.8)

10,589 (72.2)

Discharge disposition, n (%)

 Home

1,002 (37.2)

3,538 (31.0)

5,446 (37.1)

 Home with HH

1,695 (62.8)

7,869 (69.0)

9,219 (62.9)

Comorbidities, n (%)

 Alcohol use disorder

27 (1.0)

145 (1.3)

133 (0.9)

 Tobacco use

97 (3.6)

545 (4.8)

674 (4.6)

 Cancer

394 (14.6)

1,600 (14.0)

1,907 (13.0)

 Dementia

109 (4.0)

302 (2.6)

451 (3.1)

 AMI

75 (2.8)

266 (2.3)

334 (2.3)

 AFib

324 (12.0)

1,204 (10.6)

1,471 (10.0)

 HF

452 (16.8)

1,475 (12.9)

2,022 (13.8)

 Hypertension

2,172 (80.5)

9,180 (80.5)

11,779 (80.3)

 Ischemic Heart Disease

1,127 (41.8)

4,428 (38.8)

5,840 (39.8)

 Stroke/TIA

239 (8.9)

759 (6.7)

1,053 (7.2)

 Liver disease

147 (5.5)

548 (4.8)

681 (4.6)

 CKD

396 (14.7)

1,514 (13.3)

1,776 (12.1)

 Asthma

308 (11.4)

1,132 (9.9)

1,399 (9.5)

 COPD

417 (15.5)

1,565 (13.7)

2,118 (14.4)

Combined Comorbidity Score, n (%)

  < 0a

531 (19.7)

2,619 (23.0)

3,402 (23.2)

 0

764 (28.3)

3,436 (30.1)

4,541 (31.0)

 1

588 (21.8)

2,324 (20.4)

2,962 (20.2)

 2

345 (12.8)

1,351 (11.8)

1,729 (11.8)

 3 + 

469 (17.4)

1,677 (14.7)

2,031 (13.8)

Claims-based Frailty Index,b n (%)

 Robust

1,805 (66.9)

8,225 (72.1)

10,343 (70.5)

 Prefrail, Mildly Frail, or Moderately-to-severely Frailc

892 (33.1)

3,182 (27.9)

4,322 (29.5)

  1. Abbreviations: THA total hip arthroplasty, TKA total knee arthroplasty, HH home health, AMI acute myocardial infarction, AFib atrial fibrillation, HF heart failure, TIA transient ischemic attack, CKD chronic kidney disease, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  2. aCombined Comorbidity Score values that are less than 0 are possible due to a component value of -1 in the algorithm for HIV/AIDS and Hypertension
  3. bMeasured using the Claims-based Frailty Index and categorized as: < 0.15 (robust), 0.15–0.24 (prefrail), 0.25–0.34 (mildly frail), and ≥ 0.35 (moderately-to-severely frail)
  4. cCategories combined to avoid violating the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Cell Size Suppression Policy
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BMC Geriatrics

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