Original Article
Epidemiology of Regular Prescribed Opioid Use: Results from a National, Population-Based Survey

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.10.003Get rights and content
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Abstract

Chronic pain occurs commonly and accounts for significant suffering and costs. Although use of opioids for treatment of chronic pain is increasing, little is known about patients who use opioids regularly. We report data from the second wave of the Healthcare for Communities survey (2000–2001), a large, nationally representative household survey. We compared regular users of prescription opioids to nonusers of opioids and calculated the percentage of individuals within a given demographic or disease state that reported chronic opioid use. Approximately 2% of the 7,909 survey respondents reported use of opioid medications for at least a month, which the Healthcare for Communities survey defined as “regular use.” Opioid users were more likely than nonusers to report high levels of pain interference with their daily lives and to rate their health as fair or poor. Arthritis and back pain were the most prevalent chronic, physical health conditions among users of opioids, with 63% of regular users of opioids reporting arthritis and 59% reporting back pain. The majority of regular users of opioids had multiple pain conditions (mean = 1.9 pain conditions). Regular opioid users appear to have an overall lower level of health status and to have multiple, chronic physical health disorders.

Key Words

Opioids
chronic noncancer pain
physical health
epidemiology
population-based survey

Cited by (0)

This work was supported by a NIDA grant to Dr. Sullivan (Principal Investigator) (R01 DA022560-01). Dr. Hudson was supported by the South Central Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) and the Central Arkansas Veterans Health Services Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research. Dr. Edlund was supported by a Career Development Award from the Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development. Healthcare for Communities was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Kenneth Wells, Principal Investigator).