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One in four patients taking opioids will progress to long-term prescriptions

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Mayo Clinic researchers found that one in four patients prescribed opioids for the first time will progress to a long-term prescription, and patients with a history of tobacco use or alcohol abuse were more likely to progress to a long-term prescription.

The findings were published in the July issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

The study included 293 patients who received a new prescription in 2009 for an opioid painkiller such as oxycodone, morphine, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, meperidine, codeine and methadone. The researchers used the NIH-funded Rochester Epidemiology Project to select the random sample of patients for the study.

Sixty-one of the 293 patients (21%) progressed to another 3- or 4-month prescription. Another 19 patients (6%), progressed to another prescription of more than 4 months, researchers found.

Lead author W. Michael Hooten, MD, said in a press release that physicians should take into account a patients history with tobacco or alcohol when prescribing opioids, due to the link between the two and long-term opioid use.

Reference: www.mayoclinic.org