TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical characteristics of veterans prescribed high doses of opioid medications for chronic non-cancer pain
AU - Morasco, Benjamin J.
AU - Duckart, Jonathan P.
AU - Carr, Thomas P.
AU - Deyo, Richard A.
AU - Dobscha, Steven K.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by award K23DA023467 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Dr. Morasco. Jonathan Duckart, MPS, was supported by a Research Enhancement Award Program grant from the VA Health Services Research and Development service. The authors appreciate assistance from Sharon Medley and for the support provided by the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute , Grant number Ul1RR024140 from the National Center for Research Resources, a component of the National Institutes of Health and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, or the Department of Veterans Affairs.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Little is known about patients prescribed high doses of opioids to treat chronic non-cancer pain, though these patients may be at higher risk for medication-related complications. We describe the prevalence of high-dose opioid use and associated demographic and clinical characteristics among veterans treated in a VA regional healthcare network. Veterans with chronic non-cancer pain prescribed high doses of opioids (≥ 180 mg/day morphine equivalent; n = 478) for 90+ consecutive days were compared to two groups with chronic pain: Traditional-dose (5-179 mg/day; n = 500) or no opioid (n = 500). High-dose opioid use occurred in 2.4% of all chronic pain patients and in 8.2% of all chronic pain patients prescribed opioids long-term. The average dose in the high-dose group was 324.9 (SD = 285.1) mg/day. The only significant demographic difference among groups was race (p = 0.03) with black veterans less likely to receive high doses. High-dose patients were more likely to have four or more pain diagnoses and the highest rates of medical, psychiatric, and substance use disorders. After controlling for demographic factors and VA facility, neuropathy, low back pain, and nicotine dependence diagnoses were associated with increased likelihood of high-dose prescriptions. High-dose patients frequently did not receive care consistent with treatment guidelines: there was frequent use of short-acting opioids, urine drug screens were administered to only 25.7% of patients in the prior year, and 32.0% received concurrent benzodiazepine prescriptions, which may increase risk for overdose and death. Further study is needed to identify better predictors of high-dose usage, as well as the efficacy and safety of such dosing.
AB - Little is known about patients prescribed high doses of opioids to treat chronic non-cancer pain, though these patients may be at higher risk for medication-related complications. We describe the prevalence of high-dose opioid use and associated demographic and clinical characteristics among veterans treated in a VA regional healthcare network. Veterans with chronic non-cancer pain prescribed high doses of opioids (≥ 180 mg/day morphine equivalent; n = 478) for 90+ consecutive days were compared to two groups with chronic pain: Traditional-dose (5-179 mg/day; n = 500) or no opioid (n = 500). High-dose opioid use occurred in 2.4% of all chronic pain patients and in 8.2% of all chronic pain patients prescribed opioids long-term. The average dose in the high-dose group was 324.9 (SD = 285.1) mg/day. The only significant demographic difference among groups was race (p = 0.03) with black veterans less likely to receive high doses. High-dose patients were more likely to have four or more pain diagnoses and the highest rates of medical, psychiatric, and substance use disorders. After controlling for demographic factors and VA facility, neuropathy, low back pain, and nicotine dependence diagnoses were associated with increased likelihood of high-dose prescriptions. High-dose patients frequently did not receive care consistent with treatment guidelines: there was frequent use of short-acting opioids, urine drug screens were administered to only 25.7% of patients in the prior year, and 32.0% received concurrent benzodiazepine prescriptions, which may increase risk for overdose and death. Further study is needed to identify better predictors of high-dose usage, as well as the efficacy and safety of such dosing.
KW - Chronic pain
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Opioids
KW - Pain/drug therapy
KW - Quality of life
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pain.2010.08.002
DO - 10.1016/j.pain.2010.08.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 20801580
AN - SCOPUS:78049484700
SN - 0304-3959
VL - 151
SP - 625
EP - 632
JO - Pain
JF - Pain
IS - 3
ER -