ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2016
Primary Care Patients with Drug Use Report Chronic Pain and Self-Medicate with Alcohol and Other Drugs.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04908410 (The Norwegian Addiction, Pain and Trauma Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 96 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Norwegian Addiction, Pain and Trauma Study
Who cites it
96 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 180 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quality Indicators for the Pharmacological Management of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain in Older Adult Patients: An Integrative Review.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Pooled it
- The Efficacy of Vitamin D Supplementation in the Treatment of Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Addressing Pain and Heavy Drinking among Patients in HIV-Care: A Pilot Study of an Integrated Telehealth Intervention.AIDS and behavior · 2025Trial
- Hazardous alcohol use is associated with greater pain interference and prescription opioid misuse among persons living with HIV and chronic pain.BMC public health · 2021Trial
- Chronic Pain Identification Through Electronic Records (C-PICTURE): development and validation of an algorithm to identify people with chronic pain using primary care records: study protocol.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Exploring chronic pain and other clinical characteristics in drug treatment court participants.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Pain assessment tools in patients with substance use disorders: a systematic scoping review.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- Treatment barriers and preferences among veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain and alcohol use in primary care.Psychological services · 2026Article
- Substance use frequency and associations with chronic pain among a cohort of people who inject drugs in Montreal, Canada.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2026Article
- Chronic Pain and Posttraumatic Stress Among Patients in Substance Use Treatment: Protocol for NOR-APT, a Longitudinal Cohort Study.JMIR research protocols · 2025Observational
- A conceptual framework for the intersection of hyperalgesia and hyperkatifeia in alcohol addiction.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2025Review
- Chronic alcohol drinking delays recovery from capsaicin- and nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity in mice.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Chronic pain increases sensitivity to pain-induced reinstatement of ethanol seeking in male mice.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Persistent inflammation does not promote aversion-resistant binge-like alcohol drinking in rats.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic and network analyses of an alcohol-induced peripheral neuropathy model identify putative role for histone demethylasebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Chronic alcohol drinking delays recovery from capsaicin- and nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity in mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Examining the moderating role of intolerance of uncertainty on pain tolerance and craving in patients with chronic pain and alcohol use disorder.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- VA Primary Care Patients with Chronic Pain: A Comparison of Healthcare Utilization and Patient Characteristics Across Alcohol Risk Categories.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2025Article
- A study of demographic and clinical characteristics of consumers of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: a large population-based study utilizing enrollment phase data from the tabari cohort.BMC public health · 2025Article
36 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic pain is common among patients with drug use disorders. The prevalence of chronic pain and its consequences in primary care patients who use drugs is unknown.
objectivesTo examine: 1) the prevalence of chronic pain and pain-related dysfunction among primary care patients who screen positive for drug use, and 2) the prevalence of substance use to self-medicate chronic pain in this population.
designThis was a cross-sectional analysis.
participantsThis study included 589 adult patients who screened positive for any illicit drug use or prescription drug misuse, recruited from an urban, hospital-based primary care practice. MAIN MEASURES: Both pain and pain-related dysfunction were assessed by numeric rating scales, and grouped as: (0) none, (1-3) mild, (4-6) moderate, (7-10) severe. Questions were asked about the use of substances to treat pain. KEY
resultsAmong 589 participants, chronic pain was reported by 87% (95% CI: 84-90%), with 13% mild, 24% moderate and 50% severe. Pain-related dysfunction was reported by 74% (95% CI: 70-78%), with 15% mild, 23% moderate, and 36% severe. Of the 576 that used illicit drugs (i.e., marijuana, cocaine, and/or heroin), 51% reported using to treat pain (95% CI: 47-55% ). Of the 121 with prescription drug misuse, 81% (95% CI: 74-88%) used to treat pain. Of the 265 participants who reported any heavy drinking in the past 3 months, 38% (95% CI: 32-44%) did so to treat pain compared to 79% (95% CI: 68-90%) of the 57 high-risk alcohol users.
conclusionsChronic pain and pain-related dysfunction were the norm for primary care patients who screened positive for drug use, with nearly one-third reporting both severe pain and severe pain-related dysfunction. Many patients using illicit drugs, misusing prescription drugs and using alcohol reported doing so in order to self-medicate their pain. Pain needs to be addressed when patients are counseled about their substance use.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.