Little is known about the use and misuse of opioids by military service members’ spouses. This study estimates the number of military spouses receiving TRICARE benefits who received high-risk or long-term opioid prescriptions between 2010 and 2014, and addresses how the Military Health System can continue to prevent risky prescribing in order to improve military force readiness. Almost half of spouses included in the study obtained at least one opioid prescription during the 2-year observation window, and 8.5% received opioid prescriptions that posed risk to their health.

usaa146, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usaa146