Alcohol and Opioid Use in Chronic Pain: A Cross-Sectional Examination of Differences in Functioning Based on Misuse Status

Opioids are commonly prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain. Rates of opioid prescribing for pain vary across settings and chronic pain location, with estimates of approximately 20% in a nationally representative survey in 2010 [13] to 58% in a community-based health care system in 2012 [54]. While opioids have evidence for pain reduction, they also increase risk of morbidity and mortality [10,11,16,37,48]. Several observational surveys have indicated that rates of opioid-related problems have increased in a manner that parallels the increases in opioid prescription rates over the past few decades [9,61].

Source: The Journal of Pain - May 11, 2018 Category: Materials Science Authors: Kevin E Vowles, Katie Witkiewitz, Melissa Pielech, Karlyn A. Edwards, Mindy L. McEntee, Robert W. Bailey, Lena Bolling, Mark D. Sullivan Source Type: research