Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.

<h4>Context</h4>Opioid related deaths are at epidemic levels in many developed nations globally. Concerns about the contribution of prescribed opioids, and particularly high-dose opioids, continue to mount as do initiatives to reduce prescribing. Evidence around opioid tapering, which ca...

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Main Authors: Abhimanyu Sud, Alana Armas, Heather Cunningham, Shawn Tracy, Kirk Foat, Navindra Persaud, Fardous Hosseiny, Sylvia Hyland, Leyna Lowe, Erin Zlahtic, Rhea Murti, Hannah Derue, Ilana Birnbaum, Katija Bonin, Ross Upshur, Michelle L A Nelson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236419
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author Abhimanyu Sud
Alana Armas
Heather Cunningham
Shawn Tracy
Kirk Foat
Navindra Persaud
Fardous Hosseiny
Sylvia Hyland
Leyna Lowe
Erin Zlahtic
Rhea Murti
Hannah Derue
Ilana Birnbaum
Katija Bonin
Ross Upshur
Michelle L A Nelson
author_facet Abhimanyu Sud
Alana Armas
Heather Cunningham
Shawn Tracy
Kirk Foat
Navindra Persaud
Fardous Hosseiny
Sylvia Hyland
Leyna Lowe
Erin Zlahtic
Rhea Murti
Hannah Derue
Ilana Birnbaum
Katija Bonin
Ross Upshur
Michelle L A Nelson
author_sort Abhimanyu Sud
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Context</h4>Opioid related deaths are at epidemic levels in many developed nations globally. Concerns about the contribution of prescribed opioids, and particularly high-dose opioids, continue to mount as do initiatives to reduce prescribing. Evidence around opioid tapering, which can be challenging and potentially hazardous, is not well developed. A recent national guideline has recognized this and recommended referral to multidisciplinary care for challenging cases of opioid tapering. However, multidisciplinary care for opioid tapering is not well understood or defined.<h4>Objective</h4>Identify the existing literature on any multidisciplinary care programs that evaluate impact on opioid use, synthesize how these programs work and clarify whom they benefit.<h4>Study design</h4>Systematic rapid realist review.<h4>Dataset</h4>Bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library), grey literature, reference hand search and formal expert consultation.<h4>Results</h4>95 studies were identified. 75% of the programs were from the United States and the majority (n = 62) were published after 2000. A minority (n = 23) of programs reported on >12 month opioid use outcomes. There were three necessary but insufficient mechanisms common to all programs: pain relief, behavior change and active medication management. Programs that did not include a combination of all three mechanisms did not result in opioid dose reductions. A concerning 20-40% of subjects resumed opioid use within one year of program completion.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Providing alternative analgesia is insufficient for reducing opioid doses. Even high quality primary care multidisciplinary care programs do not reduce prescribed opioid use unless there is active medication management accomplished by changing the primary opioid prescriber. Rates of return to use of opioids from these programs are very concerning in the current context of a highly potent and lethal street drug supply. This contextual factor may be powerful enough to undermine the modest benefits of opioid dose reduction via multidisciplinary care.
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spelling doaj.art-8c1ddbf088af44d0bc88050da9dc176a2022-12-21T22:41:42ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01157e023641910.1371/journal.pone.0236419Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.Abhimanyu SudAlana ArmasHeather CunninghamShawn TracyKirk FoatNavindra PersaudFardous HosseinySylvia HylandLeyna LoweErin ZlahticRhea MurtiHannah DerueIlana BirnbaumKatija BoninRoss UpshurMichelle L A Nelson<h4>Context</h4>Opioid related deaths are at epidemic levels in many developed nations globally. Concerns about the contribution of prescribed opioids, and particularly high-dose opioids, continue to mount as do initiatives to reduce prescribing. Evidence around opioid tapering, which can be challenging and potentially hazardous, is not well developed. A recent national guideline has recognized this and recommended referral to multidisciplinary care for challenging cases of opioid tapering. However, multidisciplinary care for opioid tapering is not well understood or defined.<h4>Objective</h4>Identify the existing literature on any multidisciplinary care programs that evaluate impact on opioid use, synthesize how these programs work and clarify whom they benefit.<h4>Study design</h4>Systematic rapid realist review.<h4>Dataset</h4>Bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library), grey literature, reference hand search and formal expert consultation.<h4>Results</h4>95 studies were identified. 75% of the programs were from the United States and the majority (n = 62) were published after 2000. A minority (n = 23) of programs reported on >12 month opioid use outcomes. There were three necessary but insufficient mechanisms common to all programs: pain relief, behavior change and active medication management. Programs that did not include a combination of all three mechanisms did not result in opioid dose reductions. A concerning 20-40% of subjects resumed opioid use within one year of program completion.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Providing alternative analgesia is insufficient for reducing opioid doses. Even high quality primary care multidisciplinary care programs do not reduce prescribed opioid use unless there is active medication management accomplished by changing the primary opioid prescriber. Rates of return to use of opioids from these programs are very concerning in the current context of a highly potent and lethal street drug supply. This contextual factor may be powerful enough to undermine the modest benefits of opioid dose reduction via multidisciplinary care.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236419
spellingShingle Abhimanyu Sud
Alana Armas
Heather Cunningham
Shawn Tracy
Kirk Foat
Navindra Persaud
Fardous Hosseiny
Sylvia Hyland
Leyna Lowe
Erin Zlahtic
Rhea Murti
Hannah Derue
Ilana Birnbaum
Katija Bonin
Ross Upshur
Michelle L A Nelson
Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.
PLoS ONE
title Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.
title_full Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.
title_fullStr Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.
title_full_unstemmed Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.
title_short Multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic realist review.
title_sort multidisciplinary care for opioid dose reduction in patients with chronic non cancer pain a systematic realist review
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236419
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