Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

The prevalence of opioid analgesic use in people with chronic noncancer pain : systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Wertheimer, Graeme, Mathieson, Stephanie, Maher, Christopher G., Lin, Chung-Wei Christine, McLachlan, Andrew J., Buchbinder, Rachelle, Pearson, Sallie-Anne and Underwood, Martin (2021) The prevalence of opioid analgesic use in people with chronic noncancer pain : systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Pain Medicine, 22 (2). pp. 506-517. doi:10.1093/pm/pnaa322

[img]
Preview
PDF
WRAP-The-prevalence-of-opioid-analgesic-use-in-people-with-chronic-noncancer-pain-Underwood-20.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (369Kb) | Preview
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnaa322

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Objective
To review studies examining the proportion of people with chronic noncancer pain who report consuming opioids and characteristics associated with their use.

Design
Systematic review.

Methods
We searched databases from inception to February 8, 2020, and conducted citation tracking. We included observational studies reporting the proportion of adults with chronic noncancer pain who used opioid analgesics. Opioids were categorized as weak (e.g., codeine) or strong (e.g., oxycodone). Study risk of bias was assessed, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluations provided a summary of the overall quality. Results were pooled using a random-effects model. Meta-regression determined factors associated with opioid use.

Results
Sixty studies (N=3,961,739) reported data on opioid use in people with chronic noncancer pain from 1990 to 2017. Of these 46, 77% had moderate risk of bias. Opioid use was reported by 26.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 23.1–30.8; moderate-quality evidence) of people with chronic noncancer pain. The use of weak opioids (17.3%; 95% CI 11.9–24.4; moderate-quality evidence) was more common than the use of strong opioids (9.8%; 95% CI, 6.8–14.0; low-quality evidence). Meta-regression determined that opioid use was associated with geographic region (P=0.02; lower in Europe than North America), but not sampling year (P=0.77), setting (P=0.06), diagnosis (P=0.34), or disclosure of funding (P=0.77).

Conclusions
Our review summarized data from over 3.9 million people with chronic noncancer pain reporting their opioid use. Between 1990 and 2017, one-quarter of people with chronic noncancer pain reported taking opioids, and this proportion did not change over time.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer)
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Clinical Trials Unit
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Cancer pain -- Treatment, Opioids, Opioids -- Therapeutic use
Journal or Publication Title: Pain Medicine
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISSN: 1526-2375
Official Date: February 2021
Dates:
DateEvent
February 2021Published
8 November 2020Available
Volume: 22
Number: 2
Page Range: pp. 506-517
DOI: 10.1093/pm/pnaa322
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
UNSPECIFIED[NIHR] National Institute for Health Researchhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000272
APP1158463National Health and Medical Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000925
APP1103022National Health and Medical Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000925
APP106140National Health and Medical Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000925
APP1082138National Health and Medical Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000925

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us