SEPTEMBER 14, 2023
COVID-19 did not interrupt the decrease in opioid prescribing for patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) over the past 15 years, new data suggest.
New opioid users for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and fibromyalgia grew from 2006 to a peak in 2018 through 2019 of 4.5, 1.8 and 8.7 new users per 10,000 people per year, respectively (Rheumatology [Oxford]. 2023 Jul 11. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kead346). These numbers fell to 2.4, 1.2 and 5.9,
COVID-19 did not interrupt the decrease in opioid prescribing for patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) over the past 15 years, new data suggest.
New opioid users for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and fibromyalgia grew from 2006 to a peak in 2018 through 2019 of 4.5, 1.8 and 8.7 new users per 10,000 people per year, respectively (Rheumatology [Oxford]. 2023 Jul 11. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kead346). These numbers fell to 2.4, 1.2 and 5.9, respectively, in 2021.
“The plateauing or decreasing trend of opioid users for RMDs after 2018 may reflect the efforts to tackle rising opioid prescribing in the UK,” the researchers reported. “The pandemic led to fewer people on opioids for most RMDs, providing reassurance that there was no sudden increase in opioid prescribing during the pandemic.”
Study data on 1,313,519 RMD patients came from U.K. primary care electronic health records representative of the national population.
Adult patients with RA, PsA, axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), systemic lupus erythematosus, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia who received opioid prescriptions between Jan. 1, 2006, and Aug. 31, 2021, without cancer were included in the study. Yearly rates of new and prevalent opioid users were standardized according to age and sex. The study’s findings were limited by the fact that information on opioids prescribed in the hospital or obtained over-the-counter were not included in the study data.
Because patients with fibromyalgia and AxSpA had the highest overall mean morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) per day over the study period (≥35 MME) and (34-35 MME), respectively, the researchers concluded that patients with these disorders may need to be closely monitored in a clinical setting.
“In light of the limited evidence on opioid therapy for the two RMDs, clinicians should proactively consider incorporating non-opioid medicines and/or non-pharmacological treatments to help manage chronic pain rather than relying on increasing the dose and/or potency of opioid therapy,” the researchers added.
—Myles Starr
