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. 2019 Jan;98(1):e13913.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000013913.

Association between initial opioid use and response to a brief interdisciplinary treatment program in fibromyalgia

Jong-Moon Hwang  1   2 , Byung-Joo Lee  1 , Terry H Oh  3 , Donghwi Park  4 , Chul-Hyun Kim  1   2
Affiliations

Association between initial opioid use and response to a brief interdisciplinary treatment program in fibromyalgia

Jong-Moon Hwang et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Background: To evaluate the association between opioid use and treatment outcome (symptom severity, quality of life [QOL]) after a brief interdisciplinary fibromyalgia treatment program (FTP).

Method: Subjects (n = 971) with fibromyalgia participated in the FTP. They filled out the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Short Form-36 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36) at baseline and 6 to 12 months after the FTP. Post-treatment changes in FIQ and SF-36 scores were compared after stratifying the participants into opioid user and non-opioid user groups.

Results: A total of 236 patients (24.3%) were opioid users. Compared with non-opioid users, the opioid users had worse symptom severity measured using FIQ total score (p < .001) and all subscales at baseline and post treatment, as well as worse QOL measured using all SF-36 subscales and physical and mental components. Comparison of least-square means of mean change of QOL between opioid users and non-opioid users after analysis of covariance adjusted patient characteristics and baseline scores showed that the FIQ subscale scores of physical impairment (p < .05), job ability (p < .05), and fatigue (p < .05) were significantly less improved in the opioid users compared with the non-opioid users. Moreover, the SF-36 subscale score of general health perception (p < .05) was significantly less improved in the opioid users compared with non-opioid users. However, post-treatment changes in mean scores for QOL subscale generally did not significantly differ in both groups.

Conclusions: Opioid use did not affect response to the FTP, as measured using the FIQ total score or SF-36 physical and mental component summary scores. Furthermore, the opioid user group showed less improvement in the FIQ subscale scores of physical impairment, job ability, and fatigue and in the SF-36 subscale scores of general health perception.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of least-square means of mean change of FIQ (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire) subscale scores between opioid users and nonopioid users. ∗P < .05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of least-square means of mean change of SF-36 (Short Form-36 Health Status Questionnaire) subscale and summary scores between opioid users and nonopioid users. ∗P < .05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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