Opioid use in cancer patients compared with noncancer pain patients in a veteran population.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Opioid safety initiatives may secondarily impact opioid prescribing and pain outcomes for cancer care.

Methods

We reviewed electronic health record data at a tertiary Veterans Affairs system (VA Palo Alto) for all patients from 2015 to 2021. We collected outpatient Schedule II opioid prescriptions data and calculated morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conversion formulas. To determine the clinical impact of changes in opioid prescription, we used the highest level of pain reported by each patient on the 0-to-10 Numeric Rating Scale in each year, categorized into mild (0-3), moderate (4-6), and severe (7 and above).

Results

Among 89 569 patients, 9073 had a cancer diagnosis. Cancer patients were almost twic

SUBMITTER: Mudumbai SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11009465 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature