The composition of workers is often an open door to drug addiction: study

MONDAY, Oct. 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) – Many injured workers are turning to opioid analgesics for relief, and nearly 30% of them could still take them three months after their injury, increasing the risk dependence, according to a new study.

"The increased likelihood of persistent opioid use among sprained and sprained injuries is potentially of concern, particularly given the limited evidence available in favor of opioid treatment for these injuries", said the senior author of the study, Nathan O Hara. He is a research associate at the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Common injuries for which people seeking compensation have received opioids include crushes, sprains and strains, permanent disability, and chronic joint pain, the researchers reported.

Since many workers consume opioids to treat work-related injuries, and considering the risk of addiction, O 'Hara considers that it's a serious problem or even increasing. Common opioids include OxyContin and Vicodin.

"Since the persistent use of opioids does not match well with the severity of the injury, opioid use should not be initiated for non-serious injury," he said. he declares.

The primary concern of physicians concerns the use of opioids for the treatment of non-acute pain, said lead researcher Dr. Gerard Slobogean, an assistant professor of orthopedics at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. University of Maryland. "Physiotherapy, complementary and alternative therapies, as well as non-opioid medical therapies, should be considered for many injured workers," he said.

For this study, researchers collected data on nearly 9,600 injured workers who filed for compensation in Maryland between 2008 and 2016. All patients had initially been treated with opioids.

The researchers found that persistent opioid use was related to age and an annual income greater than $ 60,000.

Lindsey Vuolo is Associate Director of Law and Health Policy at the Center on Addiction. "The high rate of persistent opioid use among injured workers in this study is worrisome, as such use may mean misuse, a risk factor for use disorder." opioids, "she said.

The progression of an abusive use of illicit opioids, such as heroin and fentanyl, is one of the hallmarks of the opioid crisis in America, said Vuolo, who was only doing not part of the study. In 2016, more than 11.5 million Americans reported misuse of prescription opioids, and more than 14,000 people died from an opioid-related overdose of prescription, the researchers said.

In addition, opioids are often ineffective for long-term pain management, Vuolo said. Safer treatment options, such as non-opioid analgesics and physical therapy, should be tried first to manage chronic pain, she said.

Dr. Jianguo Cheng, director of the multidisciplinary fellowship program in pain medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, acquiesced.

Doctors must stop taking the habit of prescribing opioids as the first option to treat the pain, said Cheng, who was not involved in the study.

"Minimize exposure and use in terms of dose and frequency," he recommended. "However, for some patients who have failed other treatments, opioids are always an option and can be effective, so this treatment option should not be denied to patients."

The report was published online on October 26 in the journal JAMA Network open now.

More information

Visit the US National Institute on Drug Abuse to learn more about opioids.