Difficulties with prescribed opioids: a cross-sectional… : PAIN Reports
es patients experience with these medicines is important for the provision of care. Objective: To understand the difficulties experienced by patients prescribed opioids for noncancer pain in primary care. Methods: A cross-sectional postal survey of adults prescribed an opioid medicine for noncancer pain over a period of ≥3 months from 10 general practices (n = 3077) in the East Midlands was conducted using self-completed questionnaires. Sociodemographic, pain, and opioid use information was gathered to characterise the study population. An adapted version of the 15-item Prescribed Opioids Difficulties Scale was used to assess the problems and concerns attributed to using prescribed opioids, from the time opioids were first prescribed. Results: Questionnaires were received from 619 respondents (response rate = 20.1%), of whom 59.8% were female, and the median age was 64 years. Four in 5 (79.8%) had experienced at least one opioid problem or concern from the Prescribed Opioids Difficulti
