Investigators have uncovered the possible effects of prescribing opioids for long-term use in patients with fibromyalgia, according to a press release from EULAR. In a retrospective cohort study—presented by Medina et al at the EULAR 2023 Congress and simultaneously published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases—the investigators used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to analyze 28,554 patients with fibromyalgia who had not been diagnosed with cancer and were new opioid users between 2006 and 2021. The investigators found that 26% of the patients became long-term opioid users within the first year—which they defined as having at least three opioid prescriptions within a 90-day period or at least one prescription lasting 90 days or more. The investigators also reported that several factors had a potentially significant association with a higher risk of long-term opioid use, such as mean daily morphine mg equivalents at initiation of use, a history of suicide and self-harm, and deprivation. Other risk factors included substance use disorder and obesity. The investigators hope that these findings may help physicians make more informed decisions when prescribing opioids to patients with fibromyalgia.
June 30, 2023