“I was a little surprised”: Qualitative Insights from Patients Enrolled in a 12-Month Trial Comparing Opioids to Non-Opioid Medications for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a major public health problem, associated with disabling physical and emotional consequences for patients and with significant costs related to medical treatment and lost worker productivity.16 Use of opioid analgesics to treat chronic pain has increased dramatically in recent years,7,25 paralleled by increases in opioid-related harms, including addiction and death.1,23,34 While harms of opioids have become apparent, evidence for long-term effectiveness of opioids for chronic pain is lacking; a recent systematic review found no randomized trials that examined effects of opioids on pain, function, or quality of life at one year or longer.
Source: The Journal of Pain - Category: Materials Science Authors: Tags: Original Reports Source Type: research