As U.S. opioid prescriptions continue to trend downwards, skeletal muscle relaxer scripts are on the rise, according to an analysis of the CDC’s National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS).

Between 2005 and 2016, the number of office visits in which muscle relaxers were prescribed, most commonly for back pain and musculoskeletal conditions, doubled from 15.5 million to 30.7 million, reported Charles E. Leonard, PharmD, MSCE, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues.

While office visits resulting in new skeletal muscle relaxer prescriptions during this period remained relatively stable at about six million per year, visits for continued therapy tripled from 8.5 million to 24.7 million, the researchers wrote in JAMA Network Open.

The proportion of older adults receiving muscle relaxant prescriptions increased three-fold across the study period such that by 2016, adults over 65 accounted for 22.2% of visits in which a muscle relaxant was prescribed, the team added. Also, 67.2% of continued muscle relaxant visits in 2016 were completed while the patient was on concomitant opioids.

“For a number of years now, the American Geriatrics Society has warned providers of prescribing skeletal muscle relaxers for older adults, and the long-term treatment with skeletal muscle relaxers was particularly concerning to us because most of the available data really only support short-term use of these drugs,” Leonard told MedPage Today, adding that in some cases, especially among younger people, the drugs may be considered.

Nationally, opioid prescriptions decreased by about 20% between 2006 and 2017, in part due to the CDC’s 2016 guidelines on opioid prescribing. Between 2015 and 2018, close to 11% of adults reported being on at least one pain medication prescription, and 6% said they were on opioids, per CDC data.

“The take-home message here is that muscle relaxers are being overprescribed and we need to be aware they are not really innocent medication,” one researcher added.