The impact of prescription drug monitoring programs on functional health

In the United States, policy responses to the opioid epidemic shifted opioid prescribing patterns. Such changes may have far-reaching implications beyond opioid misuse, raising concerns of impaired access to effective pain management. Unlike previous studies that focus on opioid prescribing and overdoses, this paper uses a broad measure of quality-of-life to capture both the intended effects of PDMPs on individuals who abuse or misuse opioids and incidental effects on legitimate users affected by changes in their pain management regimen. We find that failure to account for the staggered adoption of must-access PDMPs underestimates the benefits of this policy. After accounting for differential trends by age group and the staggered adoption of PDMPs, we find suggestive evidence of improvements in functioning. These gains are larger among demographic categories known to have higher rates of prescription drug (Rx) prescribing: older individuals, and individuals without a college degree—and not among groups with higher rates of non-medical prescription drug use.