CDC: More than 20% of US adults take opioids for chronic pain

Kate Smith, MD, MPH General

More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults were taking opioids to deal with their chronic pain in 2019, according to a new CDC report based on a large, national survey that asked people about opioid prescriptions in the three months prior to being surveyed.

Highlights:

  • Use of opioids for pain increased with age, but declined after age 65;
  • Women, people who are unemployed, and individuals with family income below the federal poverty level were more likely to report an opioid prescription

Read the report

Healthy Heart Ambassador

Kate Smith, MD, MPH Heart disease, Hypertension

Join Quality Insights for a webinar on a new program from the Division of Public Health!

Introducing the NEW Healthy Heart Ambassador – Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring Program

Wednesday, May 26 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Providers and community members will learn why HHA-BPSM is important for Delawareans, the program’s components and benefits, and how they can take advantage of this NO-COST initiative. Providers and clinical staff can earn FREE CME/CNE (1.0 contact hour) for attending the webinar. 

Registration Instructions:

  1. Click Here to Register
  2. Log into your EDISCO™ account. If you don’t have one, please create an account and enter the code DEPHS on the registration screen.
  3. Once you have signed in/created an account, select the Delaware Healthy Heart Ambassador session and click on the ENROLL button to register.
  4. You will then receive an email confirming your registration and a calendar invite.