Affiliations: [a] Dental Informatics Division, Department of Cariology, Operative Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Indiana University School of Dentistry, IUPUI Indianapolis, IN, USA | [b] Research Scientist, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Thankam Thyvalikakath, Dental Informatics Division, Department of Cariology, Operative Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Indiana University School of Dentistry, IUPUI, 1050 Wishard Blvd, R2206, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Tel.: + 317 274 5460; Fax: +1 317 274 2818; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Limited studies have investigated the medication profile of young adult dental patients despite the high prevalence of prescription opioid abuse in this population. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the extent and differences in medication usage of dental patients older than 18 years by age, race/ethnicity, gender, insurance status and mechanism of action in an academic dental clinic setting. METHODS: Using an automated approach, medication names in the electronic dental record were retrieved and classified according to the National Drug Code directory. Descriptive statistics, multivariable ANOVA and Post hoc tests were performed to detect differences in the number of medications by patient demographics. RESULTS: Of the 11,220 adult patients, 53 percent reported taking at least one medication with significant differences in medication usage by demographics. Hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (21–36%), and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (19–23%) ranked the top two medication classes among patients 55 years and older. Opioid agonists (7–14%), and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) (5–12%) ranked the top two medication classes among patients aged 18–54 years. CONCLUSIONS: The results underscore the importance of dental providers to review medical and medication histories of patients regardless of their age to avoid adverse events and to determine patient’s risk for opioid abuse.
Keywords: Electronic dental records, electronic health records, medication usage, pharmaceutical preparations, demography, oral health, natural language processing
