The Clinical journal of pain
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Comparative Study
Comparable analgesic efficacy of transdermal buprenorphine in patients over and under 65 years of age.
To compare the efficacy and tolerability of transdermal buprenorphine in elderly patients and 2 younger populations, all requiring analgesic treatment for moderate-to-severe chronic pain. ⋯ This investigation showed that the treatment of chronic pain with transdermal buprenorphine in elderly patients above the age of 65 years is at least as effective, tolerable, and safe as in patients studied in 2 age-groups below that age.
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This paper describes characteristics of opioid use episodes for noncancer pain and defines thresholds for de facto long-term opioid therapy. ⋯ Long-term opioid therapy was characterized by the diversity in medications prescribed, dosage levels, and frequency of use. The proposed threshold for long-term opioid therapy provides a checkpoint for physicians to review whether an explicit decision to sustain opioid therapy has been reached, and to ensure that a documented treatment plan and provisions for monitoring medication use and patient outcomes are in place.
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Prescription opioid misuse is a growing problem in the United States. There are limited data to illuminate the nature of this issue. The Internet seems to be a novel approach in surveying populations of opioid users. An Internet-based survey of nonmedical opioid users visiting informational drug websites was used to measure rates of nonmedical use and characterize users. ⋯ This project demonstrates the feasibility of conducting product-specific, online surveys with rapid recruitment of participants from websites. This approach differentiates rates of nonmedical use of specific prescription opioids and provides other insights into individuals who nonmedically use opioids.