Nearly two-thirds of a cohort of thousands of older veterans with chronic pain saw sustained reductions in their pain during 12 months of follow-up. However, initiation of opioid therapy during follow-up was associated with lessening of pain relief. The research was published in the Journal of Pain (2016;17:824-835).
“Higher baseline levels of pain and older age were associated with greater likelihood of improvement in pain intensity, whereas service-connected disability ratings, mental