The study found that patients prescribed even just one day of opioids had a 6 percent chance of still being on opioids one year into the future. Much more disturbing, though, was how aggressively that number jumped when the initial prescription was longer. More than 15 percent of patients prescribed opioids for ten days continued use for a year or more, as did a full 30 percent of patients who were given a prescription for more than a month.
