Epidemiology of Opioid Drug Use in Patients with Chronic Non-Malignant Pain in Norway

Abstract

increase in the opioid dose occurred in new users and previous low-dose opioid users, while stable or decreasing doses were more common in patients already receiving high doses of opioids. Eighty percent of patients who combined opioids with benzodiazepines or zhypnotics at baseline remained regular users of the drug combination after 6 years. Compared with the general population of Norway of the same age, a higher incidence 19 of 21 chronic somatic diseases and three of three psychiatric diseases was observed in persistent opioid users. Conclusions A large number of persistent opioid users had psychiatric co-morbidities, indicating that a large proportion of persistent opioid users belong to a group of patients whose long-term treatment should be considered more carefully. In addition, the majority of persistent opioid users received long-term treatment with benzodiazepines and z-hypnotics, which may increase the risk of developing problematic opioid use. In terms of the long-term efficacy and safety of opioid treatment, these findings indicate that current prescription practice could be further optimized to avoid potential harms associated with LtOT. A reassuring finding is that only 10 % of long-term opioid users eventually required high doses of opioids, and these patients appear to receive relatively stable doses. These findings should be interpreted with caution as information regarding the reasons for regular treatment with opioids, other potentially addictive drugs or clinical outcomes of the received therapy in these patients are not known.