Characteristics of US Buprenorphine Prescribers Across Locations of Practice
| Large Metropolitan Area | Small Metropolitan Area | Nonmetropolitan Area | N | χ2 or F | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical specialty, No. (%) | 1,149 | 39.09 | <.001 | |||
| Primary care | 215 (33.4) | 162 (42.9) | 78 (60.9) | |||
| Addiction/psychiatry | 353 (54.9) | 171 (45.2) | 36 (28.1) | |||
| Other | 75 (11.7) | 45 (11.9) | 14 (10.9) | |||
| Practice, No. (%) | 1,155 | 22.07 | <.001 | |||
| Individual medical practice | 361 (55.6) | 183 (48.4) | 43 (33.6) | |||
| Other | 288 (44.4) | 195 (51.6) | 85 (66.4) | |||
| Years prescribing buprenorphine, mean (SD) | 7.0 (3.9)a,b | 6.4 (3.9) | 6.1 (3.7) | 1,124 | 4.90 | .008 |
| Waiver type, No. (%) | 1,174 | 5.50 | .06 | |||
| 30-patient limit | 296 (44.8) | 143 (37.4) | 57 (43.2) | |||
| 100-patient limit | 364 (55.2) | 239 (62.6) | 75 (56.8) | |||
| Payment type for office visits, No. (%) | 1,141 | 36.61 | <.001 | |||
| Cash only | 140 (21.9) | 67 (17.9) | 16 (12.4) | |||
| Private insurance but not Medicaid | 170 (26.7) | 88 (23.5) | 14 (10.9) | |||
| Medicaid (with or without private insurance) | 292 (45.8) | 205 (54.8) | 95 (73.6) | |||
| Other | 36 (5.6) | 14 (3.7) | 4 (3.1) | |||
| Age, mean (SD), y | 55.3 (12.1) | 55.4 (10.7) | 56.4 (9.4) | 1,164 | 0.51 | .60 |
| Sex, No. (%) | 1,165 | 2.13 | .35 | |||
| Male | 493 (75.5) | 300 (78.9) | 105 (79.5) | |||
| Female | 160 (24.5) | 80 (21.1) | 27 (20.5) | |||
| Race, No. (%) | 1,148 | 18.70 | .001 | |||
| White | 466 (72.0) | 302 (81.0) | 110 (85.9) | |||
| Asian | 100 (15.5) | 34 (9.1) | 10 (7.8) | |||
| Other | 81 (12.5) | 37 (9.9) | 8 (6.3) | |||
| Census division, No. (%) | 1,174 | 81.66 | <.001 | |||
| New England | 62 (9.4) | 47 (12.3) | 17 (12.9) | |||
| Middle Atlantic | 143 (21.7) | 37 (9.7) | 15 (11.4) | |||
| East North Central | 81 (12.3) | 49 (12.8) | 21 (15.9) | |||
| West North Central | 17 (2.6) | 17 (4.5) | 6 (4.5) | |||
| South Atlantic | 129 (19.5) | 85 (22.3) | 16 (12.1) | |||
| East South Central | 24 (3.6) | 34 (8.9) | 14 (10.6) | |||
| West South Central | 45 (6.8) | 29 (7.6) | 5 (3.8) | |||
| Mountain | 31 (4.7) | 44 (11.5) | 11 (8.3) | |||
| Pacific | 128 (19.4) | 40 (10.5) | 27 (20.5) |
US = United States.
Note: Groups were compared using analysis of variance (F statistic) or χ2 tests. Percentage may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Not all prescribers responded to all items; the N column represents the number of prescribers with valid data for each item.
↵a Significant difference with Bonferroni correction between physicians in large metropolitan areas and small metropolitan areas.
↵b Significant difference with Bonferroni correction between physicians in large metropolitan areas and nonmetropolitan areas.