Chronic pain and continuity of analgesic treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pain Pract 2023;
23:359-367. [PMID:
36514870 DOI:
10.1111/papr.13197]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Chronic pain can trigger both physical and mental health complications. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with chronic diseases have had reduced access to some medications.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the pharmacological management of patients with chronic pain and its continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS
This was a retrospective longitudinal study of the continuity of analgesic use in patients with chronic pain between September 1, 2019 and February 28, 2021 based on a drug dispensing database. Survival analysis was performed until the discontinuation of chronic analgesics.
RESULTS
A total of 12,701 patients who were being treated for chronic pain were identified. Their median age was 70.3 years, and 74.4% were women. The pain of rheumatological origin was the most frequent etiology (46.1%); the most used medications were nonopioid analgesics (78.9%), pain modulators (24.8%) and opioid analgesics (23.3%). A total of 76.1% of the patients experienced interruptions in their management during the study period. The median time to the first interruption of treatment was 5.0 months (95% CI: 4.8-5.2). Those who were treated for oncological pain experienced a greater number of interruptions in their management.
CONCLUSIONS
The pharmacological management of patients with chronic pain is heterogeneous, and this real-world study showed that a high proportion of patients experienced an interruption of pain management during the 12 months following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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