Differential patterns of opioid use: Defining persistent opioid use in a prescription database

Abstract

In the patient populations identified by the three definitions, a high rate of retention was observed, indicating that the proposed definitions can identify patients with long-term persistent use of opioids.

Predictors of Long-term Opioid Use Following Lumbar Fusion Surgery

“…Although this interval is substantially longer than some reported definitions of long term opioid use, 29,30 several studies have reported that a substantial percentage of patients use opioids consistently for up to 2 years following lumbar surgery. 2,31,32–34 We examined long-term opioid use as both a binary (≥365 days) and a continuous outcome.…”

Persistent analgesic use and the association with chronic pain and other risk factors in the population—a longitudinal study from the Tromsø Study and the Norwegian Prescription Database

“…Previous studies of Nordic populations report a prevalence of heavy NSAID use of 1.5 % [18] and persistent opioid use of 1.1 % [16]. Thus, the point prevalence of persistent use of NSAIDs, opioids or paracetamol at 4 % seems reasonable.…”

“…There have been several studies on persistent opioid use [4,[14][15][16][17], while reports on heavy use of NSAIDs [18] and self-reported regular analgesic use also exist [5,19].…”

Consumption of and satisfaction with health care among opioid users with chronic non‐malignant pain

“…7,10 The criteria are based on dispensed opioid volume and number of prescriptions during 365 days. The criteria for the wide definition of persistent opioid use are an opioid quantity > 180 DDD or 4500 OMEQ (oral morphine equivalents) during 365 days, with prescriptions in at least three of four quarters.…”

“…[4][5][6] Depending on definition, 0.14-1.08% of Norwegians are persistent users of opioids for non-cancer pain. 7 According to the data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT)3, persons with persistent opioid use experience high levels of pain in spite of opioid treatment. Even though patterns of opioid use and concomitant medication have been extensively investigated in persistent opioid users, little is known about in which ways they differ from other patients with chronic non-malignant pain and if they used their medications as prescribed.…”