A team of researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System recently surveyed patients to understand barriers to reducing the use of opioids to manage chronic pain. The results of those interviews are published in the current issue of the journal Pain Medicine.
Millions of Americans take opioid medications daily to manage chronic pain, but there are growing concerns among health care professionals of opioid misuse and overdose. In early 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines, emphasizing a conservative approach to opioid prescribing. For patients already on long-term opioid medications, the transition away from opioid medications can be intensely unpleasant, anxiety-provoking and complex, according to the study.
