The impact of long-term opioid treatment on patients' quality of life has been
investigated in a limited number of trials that differ considerably with respect
to design and principal findings. This systematic review examines the results
of these long-term quality of life studies. Biomedical databases from 1954 through
2004 were queried for studies that met pre-defined criteria (i.e., study design,
population, intervention, and outcome measures). The investigators examined
11 studies (N = 2877), six randomized trials and five observational studies.
Of the four randomized studies that reported baseline quality of life, three
showed an improvement. Of the five observational studies, four reported a significant
improvement.
The researchers conclude that there is both moderate/high- and low-quality
evidence that suggests that long-term treatment with opioids can lead to significant
improvements in patient functional outcomes, including quality of life, in patients
with chronic, non-cancer pain. Further studies need to be conducted to confirm
the long-term quality of life benefit of opioid treatment and to examine the
effect of physical tolerance, withdrawal and addiction, which are all associated
with long-term use of opioids, on patients' functional status. Devulder J, Richarz
U, Nataraja SH. Adapted from Curr Med Res Opin. 2005 Oct;21(10):1555-68.
Read more: PMID 16238895
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16238895&query_hl=2
Credit: PubMed, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI) at the
National Library of Medicine (NLM).
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