ArticleJournal of pain research2020
Cognitive Function During Opioid Tapering in Patients with Chronic Pain: A Prospective Cohort Study.
Article in Journal of pain research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Interventions to safely and effectively reduce (taper) use of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain: a systematic review.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of interventions to reduce long term opioid treatment for chronic non-cancer pain: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Pooled it
- Opioid Therapy Discontinuation in General Practice: Associations with Adjunct Therapies and Somatoform Pain Disorders.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2026Article
- Opioid Taper is Associated with Improved Experimental Pain Tolerance in Patients with Chronic Pain: An Observational Study.Pain and therapy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeEvidence for efficacy and safety lacks for long-term opioid therapy in patients with chronic non-cancer pain and adverse effects, including affection of cognitive function and quality of life, is of concern. We aimed to investigate cognitive function and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic non-cancer pain during opioid reduction. PATIENTS AND
methodsAt two multidisciplinary pain centers, all patients with planned opioid reduction were screened for eligibility. Cognitive function was assessed using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and Trail Making Test A and B. Health-related quality of life was assessed using Short Form-36 (SF36) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
resultsWe included 51 participants and 40 participants attended follow-up of median 254 (IQR 106-357) days. Baseline RBANS score was 82 (IQR 65-93) with reference population norm value of 100 (SD±15). Daily opioid consumption was reduced from median 80 (IQR 45-161) oral morphine milligram equivalents to 19 (IQR 0-60) mg. RBANS score estimate increased by 6.2 (95% CI 3.1-9.3, p=0.0004) points after tapering. No differences were observed for Trail Making Test times, HADS or SF36 scores.
conclusionGenerally, cognitive function showed minor improvement after opioid tapering with stationary health-related quality of life, depression and anxiety scores. The clinical significance is unclear, as no minimal clinically important difference in RBANS score is available.
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