APS Press Room

News Highlights from The Journal of Pain • October 2005
The Peer Review Journal of the American Pain Society

 
For immediate release Contact: Chuck Weber
(847) 705-1802

Note to Editors and Reporters: Three articles in the October issue of the Journal of Pain cover the subject of opioid analgesics regarding their safety and efficacy, abuse and availability for all who legitimately need them.

STUDY DOCUMENTS RISE IN OXYCONTIN ABUSE

Article Title: Trends in Abuse of OxyContin and Other Opioid Analgesics in the United States: 2002-04
Lead author: Theodore J. Cicero, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry

GLENVIEW, Ill., Oct. 19, 2005 – Compelling evidence that prescription drug abuse is a major US public health problem is reported in a new study showing that street and recreational use of OxyContin and other drugs is on the rise in rural, suburban and small-to-medium-sized urban communities.

Researchers from Washington University, University of Delaware and the University of Florida, writing in The Journal of Pain, found that cases of prescription drug abuse were reported by “key informants, such as pain management specialists, addiction treatment professionals and methadone specialists, in 60 percent of the three-digit zip code areas surveyed (208).

Further, the abuse of OxyContin and hydrocodone products is by far the most prevalent and widespread. “Collectively, these data suggest that both the prevalence (zip codes with any abuse) and magnitude (5 or more case per 100,000) of OxyContin abuse have increased during the course of this study, and that abuse of this drug is now ubiquitous in this country with an upward trend that needs to be carefully monitored,” the authors concluded.

In other study findings:

  • More than 90 percent of OxyContin abusers classified themselves as Caucasian
  • 87 percent had past and current histories of multiple drug abuse and use, and
  • 70 percent said a doctor’s prescription was their major source of the drug.

MICHIGAN STUDY SHOWS MINORITIES AND POOR WHITES HAVE LESS ACCESS TO OPIOID PAIN MEDICATIONS

Article title: Differences in Prescription Opioid Analgesic Availability: Comparing Minority and White Pharmacies Across Michigan
Lead author: Carmen S. Green, MD, University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Anesthesiology

A survey of 190 Michigan pharmacies, reported in The Journal of Pain, found that those located in predominantly minority areas were significantly less likely to have sufficient supplies of opioid analgesics than pharmacies in white areas.

Further, it was reported that income is a variable affecting opioid availability in white communities, as pharmacies located in high-income areas were found to be more likely to have sufficient supplies of opioids than those in low-income areas. Income, however, was not a factor influencing opioid availability in minority neighborhoods.

“Our findings have important public-health implications, demonstrating differences in the ability to access prescription opioid analgesics,” said lead author Carmen Green, MD. She added that more studies are needed to identify and address policies that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations and limit their access to quality pain care.

SCHEDULED DOSING BETTER FOR OPIOID ANALGESICS

Article title: Efficacy and Safety of Scheduled Dosing of Opioid Analgesics: A Quality Improvement Study
Lead author: Judith A. Paice, PhD, RN, Division of Oncology/Hematology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

The results of a quality-improvement study, published in The Journal of Pain showed that scheduled dosing of opioid analgesics provides better pain relief than as-needed drug administration. In the study of 105 patients, those given scheduled doses of opioids showed decreased pain intensity ratings, and there was no difference in the frequency of adverse events compared with patients given their doses as needed.

Further, the study showed there were no differences in the amount of drug ordered or given, however, patients in the scheduled dosing group had more than twice the mean opioid dose ordered and more stable plasma levels of drug as the as-needed dosing group. “Numerous studies point to patient barriers to pain relief, such as reluctance to report pain and ask for medication and fears of addiction,” said lead author Judith A. Paice, PhD, RN. “By offering the medication on a regular schedule, patients do not have initiate requests for an analgesic.”