Opioid medication linked to patients’ familiarity, perceptions of efficacy

Use of opioid among adults with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis (OA) often leads to being familiar with the treatment and believing that the medication is beneficial and low-risk, reveals a recent study.

This cross-sectional study surveyed a total of 362 adults with knee/hip OA. The investigators measured patients’ familiarity with and perceptions of benefits and risks of opioid medications to evaluate potential associations with the use of opioid for OA within the last 6 months. Logistic regression models were used and adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical variables.

One hundred out of 349 (28.7 percent) respondents reported use of an opioid medication for OA-related symptoms in the last 6 months.

Patients who were on opioid were younger (mean age 62.5 vs 64.8 years), were more likely to have a high school education or lower (48.0 percent vs 35.3 percent), and had higher mean depression (Patient health Questionnaire-8 7.5 vs 4.9) and OA-related pain (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index 54.8 vs 46.8) scores than those who were not on medication.

After adjustments for sociodemographic and clinical variables, opioid use significantly correlated with higher perception of medication benefit (odds ratio [OR], 1.68, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.18–2.41), lower perception of medication risk (OR, 0.67, 95 percent CI, 0.51–0.88), and having family or friends who received the medication for OA (OR, 3.88, 95 percent CI, 1.88–8.02).

“While opioids are known to cause unintended adverse effects, they are being utilized by a number of patients with OA,” the investigators said.