Daily home opioid use in adults with sickle cell disease: The PiSCES project

Abstract

In this adult SCD sample, opioids were used by the majority of patients. Pain was the overwhelming characteristic associated with use, but disease-related and psychosocial variables were also associated.

Patterns of opioid use in sickle cell disease

“…Opioid‐type medications are the main component of pain management regimens in SCD in the United States , but the literature on the patterns of opioid use is limited , especially in the adult population. In this study, the opioid use was comprehensively evaluated based on the prescribing records in an adult sickle cell cohort.…”

Red blood cell transfusion therapy for sickle cell patients with frequent painful events

“…Acute vaso‐occlusive pain crisis is a hallmark symptom for patients with sickle cell disease. Some sickle cell patients develop recurrent episodes of acute vaso‐occlusive pain each year or progress to chronic pain requiring frequent daily opioid administration . Hydroxyurea is FDA approved in pediatrics and adults to reduce the frequency of these vaso‐occlusive pain events and prevent hospitalizations; however, many adult patients with frequent sickle cell pain‐related events are not receiving hydroxyurea .…”

Characterization of opioid use in sickle cell disease

“…Opioid analgesic medications are the main treatment options for acute and chronic pain caused by SCD, although the literature on the patterns of opioid use in this patient population is rather limited . Most studies were based on a self‐reported questionnaire or diary with relatively small numbers of patients, which may be subject to recall or selection bias .…”

“…Opioid analgesic medications are the main treatment options for acute and chronic pain caused by SCD, 12 although the literature on the patterns of opioid use in this patient population is rather limited. 5,8,13,14 Most studies were based on a self-reported questionnaire or diary with relatively small numbers of patients, which may be subject to recall or selection bias. 15 In this study, an administrative medical and pharmacy claims database was utilized to identify a large number of subjects with SCD and pharmacy dispensing records were extracted to evaluate patterns of opioid use.…”

“…The evidence on the patterns of opioid use in this patient population is rather limited, and there is still controversy on the dose of opioids that SCD patients use in their daily life . Many believe that patients with SCD tend to use more opioids than many other chronic pain conditions, whereas some studies showed a relatively low opioid dose used in this patient population in their daily life . However, most of the previous studies were based on single institutions with relatively small sample sizes or based on a self‐reported questionnaire or diary, which may limit the generalizability of the results.…”