Chronic pain may trigger painkiller addiction: Study
Chronic pain may be a major driver behind the recent surge in addiction to prescription painkillers, a new survey finds.
Opioid addiction and prescription drug abuse in the United States are among the countrys biggest public health threats, the researchers said. And, more than eight in 10 people abusing prescription drugs said they were doing so to treat pain.
While the association between chronic pain and drug addiction has been observed in prior studies, this study goes one step further to quantify how many of these patients are using these substances specifically to treat chronic pain, said study corresponding author Dr. Daniel Alford.
It also measures the prevalence of chronic pain in patients who screen positive for illegal drug use and prescription drug abuse, Alford said in a Boston University news release. He is director of the Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education program at the universitys medical school
For the study, the researchers screened roughly 25,000 patients for abuse of prescription medications and illegal drug use. From this group, 589 met the criteria for substance abuse.
HealthDay
