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. 2023 Apr 6;12(7):2733.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12072733.

Opioids for Osteoarthritis: Cross-Sectional Survey of Patient Perspectives and Satisfaction

Thomas J Schnitzer  1 , Rebecca L Robinson  2 , Lars Viktrup  3 , Joseph C Cappelleri  4 , Andrew G Bushmakin  4 , Leslie Tive  5 , Mia Berry  6 , Chloe Walker  6 , James Jackson  6
Affiliations

Opioids for Osteoarthritis: Cross-Sectional Survey of Patient Perspectives and Satisfaction

Thomas J Schnitzer et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Patients often take opioids to relieve osteoarthritis (OA) pain despite limited benefits and potential harms. This study aimed to compare cross-sectional perspectives of patients that were taking prescription opioid (N = 471) or nonopioid medications (N = 185) for OA in terms of satisfaction, expectations of effectiveness, and concerns. Patients prescribed opioids (>7 days) reported more prior treatments (2.47 vs. 1.74), greater mean pain intensity (5.47 vs. 4.11), and worse quality of life (EQ-5D-5L index value mean 0.45 vs. 0.71) than patients prescribed nonopioid medications (all p < 0.0001). Based on linear regression models adjusting for demographics and pain intensity, patients prescribed opioids were less satisfied with overall regimen (3.40 vs. 3.67, p = 0.0322), had less belief that medications were meeting effectiveness expectations (2.72 vs. 3.13, p < 0.0001), and had more concerns about treatments being "not very good" (3.66 vs. 3.22, p = 0.0026) and addiction (3.30 vs. 2.65, p < 0.0001) than patients prescribed nonopioid regimens. When the models were replicated for subgroups with ≥30 days' medication regimen duration, the findings were consistent with the main analyses. Patients have concerns about the risk of opioid addiction, but those with greater disease burden and more prior treatments continue taking opioid regimens.

Keywords: opioid; osteoarthritis; prescription analgesic; real-world clinical practice; tramadol.

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Conflict of interest statement

Thomas J. Schnitzer reports clinical research study support (Pfizer, Lilly, Regeneron, Galapagos, Taiwan Liposome Corporation, Anika Therapeutics) and fees for consultancy/advisory boards (Pfizer, Lilly, GSK, AstraZeneca, Galapagos, Merck). Rebecca L. Robinson and Lars Viktrup are employees and stockholders of Eli Lilly and Company. Andrew Bushmakin, Joseph C. Cappelleri, and Leslie Tive are employees of Pfizer Inc. with stock and/or stock options. Mia Berry, Chloe Walker, and James Jackson are employees of Adelphi Real World, which received funding from Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company to conduct the study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient disposition. To ensure information was available for assessment of treatment, an oversample of one patient per physician who had tried at least three medications for their OA pain was included. Abbreviation: OA, osteoarthritis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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