SynthesisPharmacoepidemiology and drug safety2020
Long-term opioid therapy definitions and predictors: A systematic review.
Synthesis in Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Predictors and Clinical Outcomes of Long-Term Opioid Therapy in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Pharmacotherapy · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Predictive Models to Assess Risk of Persistent Opioid Use, Opioid Use Disorder, and Overdose.Journal of addiction medicinePooled it
- A patient activation intervention in primary care for patients with chronic pain on long term opioid therapy: results from a randomized control trial.BMC health services research · 2024Trial
- Rural-Urban Differences in the Impact of a Medicare Opioid Safety Policy on Beneficiaries with Disabilities.American journal of preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Development and Internal Validation of a Machine Learning Model for Predicting Long-Term Opioid Therapy After Hip Fracture Surgery in Older, Opioid-Naïve Adults.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Prolonged Opioid Usage After Surgically Treated Pelvic Fracture in Working Aged Patients: Prevalence, Demographics, and Multivariable Prediction Model.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Low bone mineral density and pain impact in adults with sickle cell disease.Blood advances · 2026Article
- The Association Between Rapid Opioid Dose Tapering and Polydrug Overdose Deaths Among High-Dose, Long-Term Opioid Therapy Recipients.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Development and Validation of an Electronic Health Record-Based Algorithm for Identifying Patients With Long-Term Opioid Therapy: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- A panel management approach using prescription drug monitoring program data for primary care patients with chronic pain treated with opioids: a feasibility study.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Opioid prescription and usage disparities among Puerto Rican breast cancer survivors: findings from the Puerto Rico central cancer registry-health insurance linkage database (PRCCR-HILD).Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Article
- A Panel Management Approach Using Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Data for Primary Care Patients with Chronic Pain Treated with Opioids: A Feasibility Study.Research square · 2025Article
- Effects of biopsychosocial complexity and pain-related factors on opioid prescription in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.Pain reports · 2025Article
- A national cohort study of long-term opioid prescription and sociodemographic and health care-related risk factors.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Variation in risk of opioid therapy and association with mortality following hip or knee arthroplasty: an analysis based on 14 different definitions.Acta orthopaedica · 2025Article
- Substance use and use disorders among Veterans on long-term opioid therapy.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Craving for opioid and cannabis use among adults with chronic pain: Insights from a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Opioid Use and Prescription Opioid Use Disorder: Biopsychosocial Characterisation of a Clinical Chronic Pain Cohort.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic Position and Chronic Opioid Use After Hip Fracture Surgery: A Danish Population-Based Cohort Study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThis review sought to (a) describe definitions of long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) outcome measures, and (b) identify the predictors associated with the transition from short-term opioid use to LTOT for opioid-naïve individuals.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature (January 2007 to July 2018). We included studies examining opioid use for more than 30 days. We classified operationalization of LTOT based on criteria used in the definitions. We extracted LTOT predictors from multivariate models in studies of opioid-naïve individuals.
resultsThe search retrieved 5,221 studies, and 34 studies were included. We extracted 41 unique variations of LTOT definitions. About 36% of definitions required a cumulative duration of opioid use of 3 months. Only 17% of definitions considered consecutive observation periods, 27% used days' supply, and no definitions considered dose. We extracted 76 unique predictors of LTOT from seven studies of opioid-naïve patients. Common predictors included pre-existing comorbidities (21.1%), non-opioid prescription medication use (13.2%), substance use disorders (10.5%), and mental health disorders (10.5%).
conclusionsMost LTOT definitions aligned with the chronic pain definition (pain more than 3 months), and used cumulative duration of opioid use as a criterion, although most did not account for consistent use. Definitions were varied and rarely accounted for prescription characteristics, such as days' supply. Predictors of LTOT were similar to known risk factors of opioid abuse, misuse, and overdose. As LTOT becomes a central component of quality improvement efforts, researchers should incorporate criteria to identify consistent opioid use to build the evidence for safe and appropriate use of prescription opioids.
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