Pain in primary care patients with bipolar disorder

Prescription opioid dispensing patterns among patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Patients with schizophrenia (SZ) or bipolar disorder (BD) may have increased risk of complications from prescribed opioids, including opioid-induced respiratory depression. We compared prescription opioid pain medication dispensing for patients with SZ or BD versus controls over 5 years to assess dispensing trends.

METHODS

This retrospective, observational study analysed US claims data from the IBM® MarketScan® Commercial and Multi-State Medicaid databases for individuals aged 18-64 years with prevalent SZ or BD for years 2015-2019 compared with age- and sex-matched controls. Baseline characteristics, comorbidities, and medication use were assessed. Proportions of individuals dispensed prescription opioids chronically (ie, ≥70 days over a 90-day period or ≥ 6 prescriptions annually) or nonchronically (≥1 prescription, chronic definition not met) were assessed.

RESULTS

In 2019, the Commercial and Medicaid databases contained records for 4773 and 30,179 patients with SZ and 52,780 and 63,455 patients with BD, respectively. Patients with SZ or BD had a higher prevalence of comorbidities, including pain, versus controls in each analysis year. From 2015 to 2019, among commercially insured patients with SZ, chronic opioid-dispensing proportions decreased from 6.1% (controls: 2.7%) to 2.3% (controls: 1.2%) and, for patients with BD, from 11.4% (controls: 2.7%) to 6.4% (controls: 1.6%). Chronic opioid dispensing declined in Medicaid-covered patients with SZ from 15.0% (controls: 14.7%) to 6.7% (controls: 6.0%) and, for patients with BD, from 27.4% (controls: 12.0%) to 12.4% (controls: 4.7%). Among commercially insured patients with SZ, nonchronic opioid dispensing decreased from 15.5% (controls: 16.4%) to 10.7% (controls: 11.0%) and, for patients with BD, from 26.1% (controls: 17.5%) to 20.0% (controls: 12.2%). In Medicaid-covered patients with SZ, nonchronic opioid dispensing declined from 22.5% (controls: 24.4%) to 15.1% (controls: 12.7%) and, for patients with BD, from 32.3% (controls: 25.9%) to 24.6% (controls: 13.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

The proportions of individuals dispensed chronic or nonchronic opioid medications each year were similar between commercially and Medicaid-insured patients with SZ versus controls and were higher for patients with BD versus controls. From 2015 to 2019, the proportions of individuals who were dispensed prescription opioids chronically or nonchronically decreased for patients with SZ or BD and controls.

Barriers to accessing pain management services among veterans with bipolar disorder

OBJECTIVE

To identify barriers veterans with bipolar disorder face to accessing chronic pain management services within a Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system.

DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING

Veterans (n = 15) with chronic pain and bipolar disorder and providers (n = 15) working within a mid-Atlantic VA health care system. Data were collected from August 2017-June 2018.

STUDY DESIGN

Veteran interviews focused on their chronic pain experiences and treatment, including barriers that arose when trying to access pain management services. Provider interviews focused on whether they address chronic pain with veteran patients and, if so, what considerations arise when addressing pain in veterans with bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses.

DATA COLLECTION

Veterans were at least 18 years old, had a confirmed bipolar disorder and chronic pain diagnosis, and engaged in outpatient care within the VA health care system. Clinicians provided direct care services to veterans within the same VA. Interviews lasted approximately 60 min and were transcribed and analyzed using a rapid analysis protocol.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Four major themes emerged from veteran and provider interviews: siloed care (unintegrated and uncoordinated mental and physical health care), mental health primacy (prioritization of mental health symptoms at expense of physical health symptoms), lagging expectations (unfamiliarity with comprehensive evidence-based pain management options), and provider-patient communication concerns (inefficient communication about pain concerns and treatment options).

CONCLUSIONS

Veterans with co-occurring pain and bipolar disorder face unique barriers that compromise equitable access to evidence-based pain treatment. Our findings suggest that educating providers about bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses and the benefit of effective non-pharmacological pain interventions for this group may improve care coordination and care quality and reduce access disparities.

Associations of Common Depression Treatment Metrics With Patient-centered Outcomes

BACKGROUND

Various metrics predicated on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores denote depression "response" or "remission" over time, but few have been empirically validated. We compare the associations of depression response and remission metrics with concomitant clinical improvement in patient-centered outcomes (PCOs).

SUBJECTS

Secondary analysis of PHQ-9 and PCO data from the treatment arm (n=906) of the Improving Mood-Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment (IMPACT) trial.

RESEARCH DESIGN

We conducted univariate correlations between 9 depression treatment metrics and 4 PCOs. For each PCO, we specified a multivariate linear fixed-effects regression model with penalized LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) variable selection that included parameters for each incremental absolute PHQ-9 decrease between 0 and 16 points. Model predictive properties were assessed using a split sample analysis.

RESULTS

There was a notable variation in depression improvement rates across metrics. Each metric was significantly associated with PCOs in univariate analyses. In the multivariate models, the cumulative likelihood of PCO improvement was most improved by absolute PHQ-9 score decreases of 7-9 and 14-16 points. The multivariate models showed greater area under the curve (0.671-0.804) in out-of-sample predictions of PCO changes than the univariate models (0.529-0.649).

CONCLUSIONS

Choice of depression response metric impacts observed response and remission rates, though PCOs tend to improve with depression improvement regardless of metric choice. Absolute incremental PHQ-9 score decreases are broadly associated with an increased likelihood of favorable PCO scores. Our findings support a novel PHQ-9 metric defined by an absolute score change of 8 points or greater.

Relationships between chronic pain and mood symptoms among veterans with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Chronic pain is highly prevalent among individuals with mood disorders. While much is known about the relationship between pain and unipolar depression, little is known about pain experiences among people with bipolar disorder. This pilot study addresses this gap by examining pain and its relationship to mood and functioning in a sample of US military veterans with bipolar disorder.

METHODS

Qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 veterans with bipolar disorder and chronic pain who were recruited from outpatient services within a Veterans Affairs medical center.

RESULTS

Veterans reported a bidirectional relationship between pain and bipolar depression. When discussing manic episodes, individuals' experiences varied between notable reductions in pain (usually in euphoric states), increases in pain (usually in angry/irritable states), and feeling disconnected from pain. Many reported that increased activity when manic contributed to worse pain after an episode. Veterans clearly articulated how these connections negatively affected their functioning and quality of life.

LIMITATIONS

This was a small, retrospective study that included a non-random sample of veteran participants from one VA medical center. All veterans were engaged in outpatient mental health care, so the majority reported that their mood has been well-stabilized through medications and/or psychotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Chronic pain experiences appear to be related to depressive and manic mood states and significantly affects functioning and quality of life in Veterans with bipolar disorder. This study highlights the need to assess chronic pain among veterans with bipolar disorder, as changes in mood could have significant implications for functioning and pain management.

Variation In The Effectiveness Of Collaborative Care For Depression: Does It Matter Where You Get Your Care?

Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that the collaborative care model for depression in primary care is more effective than usual care, but little is known about the effectiveness of this approach in real-world settings. We used patient-reported outcome data from 11,303 patients receiving collaborative care for depression in 135 primary care clinics to examine variations in depression outcomes. The average treatment response across this large sample of clinics was substantially lower than response rates reported in randomized controlled trials, and substantial outcome variation was observed. Patient factors such as initial depression severity, clinic factors such as the number of years of collaborative care practice, and the degree of implementation support received were associated with depression outcomes at follow-up. Our findings suggest that the level of implementation support could be an important influence on the effectiveness of collaborative care model programs.

Effects of Mental Health Disorders on Nursing Home Residents' Nine-Month Pain Trajectories

OBJECTIVE

To determine the key classes of nursing home residents' nine-month pain trajectories, the influence of residents' mental health disorders on membership in these classes, and nine-month health-related outcomes associated with pain trajectory class membership.

METHODS

Four times over a nine-month period, the MDS 3.0 resident assessment instrument was used to record the demographic characteristics, mental health disorder diagnoses, pain characteristics, and health and functioning outcomes of 2,539 Department of Veterans Affairs Community Living Center (VA CLC) residents. Growth mixture modeling was used to estimate the key classes of residents' nine-month pain trajectories, the influence of residents' mental health disorders on their pain trajectory class membership, and the associations of class membership with residents' health and functioning outcomes at nine-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Four-class solutions best described nursing home residents' nine-month trajectories of pain frequency, severity, and interference. Residents with dementia and severe mental illness diagnoses were less likely, and those with depressive disorder, PTSD, and substance use disorder diagnoses more likely, to belong to adverse nine-month pain trajectory classes. Membership in adverse pain frequency and pain severity trajectory classes, and in trajectory classes characterized by initially high but steeply declining pain interference, portended more depressive symptoms but better cognitive and physical functioning at nine-month follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing home residents' mental health disorder diagnoses help predict their subsequent pain frequency, severity, and interference trajectories. This may be clinically useful information for improving pain assessment and treatment approaches for nursing home residents.

Mental health disorder, pain, and pain treatment among long-term care residents: Evidence from the Minimum Data Set 3.0

Objective: This study evaluated: (a) associations between long-term care residents' mental health disorder diagnoses and their pain self-reports and pain treatments, and (b) the extent to which communication, cognitive, and physical functioning problems help explain disparities in the pain and pain treatments of long-term care residents with and without mental health disorders. Method: Minimum Data Set 3.0 records of 8,300 residents of Department of Veterans Affairs Community Living Centers were used to determine statistically unadjusted and adjusted cross-sectional associations between residents' mental health diagnoses and their pain and pain treatments. Results: Residents diagnosed with dementia and serious mental illness (SMI) were less likely, and those diagnosed with depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance use disorder (SUD) were more likely, to report recent, severe, and debilitating pain. Among residents affirming recent pain, those with dementia or SMI diagnoses were twice as likely to obtain no treatment for their pain and significantly less likely to receive as-needed pain medication and non-pharmacological pain treatments than were other residents. Those with either depressive disorder or PTSD were more likely, and those with SUD less likely, to obtain scheduled pain medication. In general, these associations remained even after statistically adjusting for residents' demographic characteristics, other mental health disorder diagnoses, and functioning. Conclusion: Long-term care residents with mental health disorders experience disparities in pain and pain treatment that are not well-explained by their functioning deficits. They may benefit from more frequent, thorough pain assessments and from more varied and closely tailored pain treatment approaches.

Chronic pain management group psychotherapy for psychiatric inpatients: A pilot study

Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) experience significant comorbid chronic pain (CP). Little is known about CP management in psychiatric inpatient settings. To address this gap in clinical practice, the authors developed CP management group psychotherapy for adult inpatients with SMI. In this report, the authors highlight (1) the theoretical underpinnings of and execution of the psychotherapy group, (2) the characteristics of participants in the pilot phase of the group, and (3) outcomes of group participants. Data were collected from 16 participants in the pain management psychotherapy group. The mean number of groups attended was two (SD = 1.7). Participants endorsed pain across five regions of the body with high pain intensity and severity. Improvements in depression, anxiety, somatic, and emotional regulation symptoms were evidenced during the course of treatment. CP group psychotherapy may be an effective modality to disseminate "best practices" and prevent diagnostic overshadowing for SMI patients.

Improvements in Somatic Complaints Among Individuals With Serious Mental Illness Receiving Treatment in a Psychiatric Hospital

OBJECTIVE

Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) experience significant comorbid somatic complaints. Little is known about response to integrated inpatient care that addresses psychiatric and general medical needs among individuals with SMI.

METHODS

Latent growth curve analyses were used to model somatic symptom trajectories across adult inpatients with SMI (n = 989). The Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) was administered at admission, every 14 days, and at discharge.

RESULTS

Patients evidenced substantial reduction in somatization from admission (mean [standard deviation] = 9.0 [5.2]) to discharge (mean [standard deviation] = 5.2 [4.4]), with large effects (d = 0.83, 95% confidence interval = 0.76-0.90). Results indicate nonlinear improvement in somatic symptoms for 8 weeks of treatment, with greatest symptom reduction occurring during the first weeks of treatment with continued, albeit slowed, improvement until discharge. Initial PHQ-15 scores were lower among men and those who reported regular exercise in the 30 days preceding this hospitalization. In addition, presence of an anxiety disorder or personality disorder at admission; history of trauma, a gastrointestinal disorder, or major medical illness (within the past 3 months); and significant sleep disturbance independently contribute to higher PHQ-15 scores at admission. A substance use disorder and sleep disturbance were associated with greater immediate symptom reduction.

CONCLUSIONS

Somatic complaints can be managed in the context of inpatient psychiatric care integrated with 24-hour nursing and internal medicine specialists. Addressing psychiatric impairments, improving sleep, and ensuring abstinence from drugs and alcohol are associated with significant improvement in somatic complaints.

Unexplained Painful Physical Symptoms in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: Prevalence, Pathophysiology and Management

Patients with major depression often report pain. In this article, we review the current literature regarding the prevalence and consequences, as well as the pathophysiology, of unexplained painful physical symptoms (UPPS) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). UPPS are experienced by approximately two-thirds of depressed patients. The presence of UPPS makes a correct diagnosis of depression more difficult. Moreover, UPPS are a predictor of a poor response to treatment and a more chronic course of depression. Pain, in the course of depression, also has a negative impact on functioning and quality of life. Frequent comorbidity of depression and UPPS has inspired the formulation of an hypothesis regarding a shared neurobiological mechanism of both conditions. Evidence from neuroimaging studies has shown that frontal-limbic dysfunction in depression may explain abnormal pain processing, leading to the presence of UPPS. Increased levels of proinflamatory cytokines and substance P in patients with MDD may also clarify the pathophysiology of UPPS. Finally, dysfunction of the descending serotonergic and noradrenergic pathways that normally suppress ascending sensations has been proposed as a core mechanism of UPPS. Psychological factors such as catastrophizing also play a role in both depression and chronic pain. Therefore, pharmacological treatment and/or cognitive therapy are recommended in the treatment of depression with UPPS. Some data suggest that serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are more effective than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the alleviation of depression and UPPS. However, the pooled analysis of eight randomised clinical trials showed similar efficacy of duloxetine (an SNRI) and paroxetine (an SSRI) in reducing UPPS in depression. Further integrative studies examining genetic factors (e.g. polymorphisms of genes for interleukins, serotonin transporter and receptors), molecular factors (e.g. cytokines, substance P) and neuroimaging findings (e.g. functional studies during painful stimulation) might provide further explanation of the pathophysiology of UPPS in MDD and therefore facilitate the development of more effective methods of treatment.

The prevalence of pain in bipolar disorder: a systematic review and large-scale meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a meta-analysis investigating the prevalence of pain in people with bipolar disorder (BD).

METHOD

A systematic review and random effects meta-analysis searching major electronic databases from inception till 01/2014 in accordance with the PRISMA statement. We included articles reporting quantitative data on the prevalence of pain in people with BD with or without a healthy control group. Two independent authors conducted searches, extracted data, and completed methodological quality assessment.

RESULTS

Twenty two cross-sectional studies were included, representing 12,375,644 individuals (BD n=171,352, n controls=12,204,292). The prevalence of pain in people with BD was 28.9% (95% CI=16.4-43.4%, BD n=171,352). The relative risk (RR) of pain in BD compared to controls was 2.14 (95% CI=1.67-2.75%, n=12,342,577). The prevalence of migraine was 14.2% (95% CI=10.6-18.3%, BD n=127,905), and the RR was 3.30 (95% CI=2.27-4.80%, n=6,732,220).About 23.7% (95% CI=13.1-36.3%, n=106,214) of people with BD experienced chronic pain. Age, percentage of males, methodological quality, and method of BD classification did not explain the observed heterogeneity.

CONCLUSION

People with BD experience significantly increased levels of pain (particularly chronic pain and migraine). The assessment and treatment of pain should form an integral part of the management of BD.

Chronic multisite pain in major depression and bipolar disorder: cross-sectional study of 149,611 participants in UK Biobank

BACKGROUND

Chronic pain has a strong association with major depressive disorder (MDD), but there is a relative paucity of studies on the association between chronic multisite pain and bipolar disorder (BD). Such studies are required to help elucidate the complex biological and psychological overlap between pain and mood disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between chronic multisite pain and mood disorder across the unipolar-bipolar spectrum.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 149,611 UK Biobank participants. Self-reported depressive and bipolar features were used to categorise participants into MDD and BD groups and a non-mood disordered comparison group. Multinomial logistic regression was used to establish whether there was an association between extent of chronic pain (independent variable) and mood disorder category (dependent variable), using no pain as the referent category, and adjusting for a wide range of potential sociodemographic, lifestyle and comorbidity confounders.

RESULTS

Multisite pain was significantly more prevalent in participants with BD and MDD, for example, 4-7 pain sites: BD 5.8%, MDD 4.5%, and comparison group 1.8% (p < 0.001). A relationship was observed between extent of chronic pain and risk of BD and persisted after adjusting for confounders (relative to individuals with no chronic pain): 2-3 sites RRR of BD 1.84 (95% CI 1.61, 2.11); 4-7 sites RRR of BD 2.39 (95% CI 1.88, 3.03) and widespread pain RRR of BD 2.37 (95% CI 1.73, 3.23). A similar relationship was observed between chronic pain and MDD: 2-3 sites RRR of MDD 1.59 (95% CI 1.54, 1.65); 4-7 sites RRR of MDD 2.13 (95% CI 1.98, 2.30); widespread pain RRR of MDD 1.86 (95% CI 1.66, 2.08).

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals who report chronic pain and multiple sites of pain are more likely to have MDD and are at higher risk of BD. These findings highlight an important aspect of comorbidity in MDD and BD and may have implications for understanding the shared neurobiology of chronic pain and mood disorders.

Carbamazepine in bipolar disorder with pain: reviewing treatment guidelines

OBJECTIVE

To determine if any monotherapy drug treatment has robust efficacy to treat comorbid bipolar disorder and chronic pain.

DATA SOURCES

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) treatment guidelines for bipolar mood disorder and the 2012 Cochrane database for pain disorders.

STUDY SELECTION

We relied on the treatment guides to determine if the drugs that are APA guideline-supported to treat bipolar disorder have supporting data from the Cochrane database for chronic pain.

DATA SYNTHESIS

No single drug was mentioned by either guideline to treat this comorbidity. However, carbamazepine was the only drug that has guideline-supported robust efficacy in the management of each condition separately.

CONCLUSIONS

Carbamazepine was found to have strong preclinical data for the treatment of comorbid bipolar mood disorder and chronic pain disorders. While requiring more studies in this population, we propose that this treatment modality may benefit patients.