More than half the people who take opioids for chronic pain are likely to still be taking them five years later, according to a release by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
A new study by University of Arkansas and University of Washington researchers in the Journal of General Internal Medicine examined private insurance and Medicaid records over five years.
Patients most likely to continue using opioids beyond 90 days were those who had been exposed to them before, were prescribed doses of opioids higher than 120 milligrams morphine equivalent and possibly misused opioids before.
Read the University of Arkansas release on widespread long-term use of opioids.
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