The number of people with chronic non-cancer pain prescribed an opioid medicine worldwide increased in the last two-and-a-half decades. But there was only a small number of studies reporting prescription data outside the United States, finds new research. Chronic pain unrelated to cancer includes conditions such as chronic lower back pain, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Guidelines such as those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discourage the use of opioids to manage chronic non-cancer pain because of concerns about harmful effects and the lack of evidence about effectiveness. The use of opioids in the U.S. and deaths from overdoses and addiction has been said to have reached epidemic proportions.

The research spanned eight countries and evaluated 42 studies that included 5,059,098 people with chronic pain conditions. In the early studies, opioid medicines were prescribed to about 20 percent of patients experiencing chronic pain but the later studies report rates of more than 40 percent. A higher proportion of people were prescribed a strong opioid medicine such as oxycodone, compared to weak opioid pain-relieving medicines.

• Opioid prescribing increased over time from approximately 20 percent in early years to around 40 percent in later years.

• On average over this period approximately one in three patients (30.7 percent) were prescribed an opioid medicine.

• 42 percent of patients with chronic lower back pain were prescribed an opioid.

• The average age of those prescribed an opioid medicine was 55.7 years.

The opioid problem has spiraled out of control in just a couple of decades, affecting all aspects of society, thanks, in part, to over-prescribing for chronic low back pain.

Presented as a service to the community by: Union County Chiropractic Clinic, 110 Skyline Drive, Maynardville, TN (865) 992-7000 www.unioncountychiropractic.com.