Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30123859›Full record

ArticlePain reports

Effects of long-term opioid analgesics on cognitive performance and plasma cytokine concentrations in patients with chronic low back pain: a cross-sectional pilot study.

Georgia C Richards, Lesley J Lluka, Maree T Smith, Catherine Haslam, Brendan Moore, James O'Callaghan, Jenny Strong

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pain reports. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Chronic Pain and Cognitive Dysfunction: Clinical Implement, Mechanism, and Therapeutic Strategy.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
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  17. Consideration of sex and gender in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders from a global perspective.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2022
    Article
  18. Review
  19. An Investigation into Proteomic Constituents of Cerebrospinal Fluid in Patients with Chronic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain Medicated with Opioids- a Pilot Study.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2021
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Georgia C RichardsNuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Lesley J LlukaSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Maree T SmithCentre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Catherine HaslamSchool of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Brendan MooreCentre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
James O'CallaghanGreenslopes Private Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
Jenny StrongOccupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
University of Queensland · AUGreenslopes Private Hospital · AUUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionCognitive performance and inflammation are altered in people with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Yet, the magnitude of these changes has been unclear because of the potential influence of opioid analgesics.

objectivesThis cross-sectional pilot study aimed to explore whether patients with CLBP receiving long-term opioid analgesics differed from patients not taking opioids on measures of cognitive performance and plasma cytokine concentrations.

methodsPatients with CLBP who were either taking (N = 18) or not taking (N = 22) opioids daily for 3 or more months were recruited from a tertiary care private hospital and compared with healthy adults (N = 20). All groups were administered validated questionnaires to assess depression, anxiety, and stress; a cognitive test of memory, attention, and executive function; and a peripheral blood draw to measure proinflammatory (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-8, IL-12p70, TNF-α, and IFN-γ), anti-inflammatory (IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13), and pleiotropic (IL-6) cytokine concentrations. Patients also completed pain-specific questionnaires.

resultsPatients receiving opioid analgesics performed significantly (

conclusionPatients receiving long-term opioid analgesics for CLBP have minor differences when compared with patients not taking opioids. This has important clinical implications when considering long-term treatment for patients with CLBP.

Indexed as

AttentionChronic painCognitionInflammationOpioidsSelf-efficacy

Identifiers

PMID30123859
PMCPMC6085139
OpenAlexW2884279665

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.