RESEARCH - AGS 2009: Short-term opioid therapy in older adults effective, nonaddicting

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AGS 2009: Short-Term Opioid Therapy in Older Adults Effective, Nonaddicting

Kathleen Louden

May 5, 2009 (Chicago, Illinois) — Among older adults with chronic

pain, short-term treatment with opioids is effective and rarely

results in abuse, but it does decrease mental functioning, a new

meta-analysis has found. The results were presented here at the

American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting.

The systematic review of 35 studies reported in the literature for

patients aged 60 years or older provides some reassurance of the

short-term safety of opioid narcotics in older adults, said principal

investigator M. Cary Reid, MD, PhD, a geriatrician at Weill Cornell

Medical College in New York City.

" Many physicians remain reluctant to prescribe this class of drugs in

older adults because they are afraid they will cause more harm than

good, " Dr. Reid told Medscape Internal Medicine in an interview. " But

life-threatening events are rare. "

Patients tend to be concerned about the potential to become addicted

to opioids, he said. However, in this older age group, their review

found only a 3% frequency of misuse or abuse of opioids used short

term, which in most of the studies was 12 weeks or less.

Compared with placebo, opioids significantly decreased pain intensity

and pain-related physical disability (P < .001 for each), according to

the abstract. The positive effects of opioids were 2 times greater in

patients with neuropathic pain than in those with pain due to

osteoarthritis, Dr. Reid said.

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Read the entire article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702345

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