Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38075592›Full record

ArticleJournal of hospice and palliative care2023

Proportion of Non-Medical Opioid Use of Prescription Opioids among Cancer Patients in Korea.

Se-Il Go, Jung Hye Kwon, Sung Woo Park, Gyeong-Won Lee, Jung Hun Kang, Eduardo Bruera

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of hospice and palliative care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 28% 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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Frequency and predictors of risk of non-medical opioid use among patients with cancer in a specialized outpatient palliative care clinic.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    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

6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Se-Il GoDepartment of Internal Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Changwon, Korea.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3025-6096
Jung Hye KwonDivision of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University Sejong Hospital, Chungnam National University College of Medicine, Sejong, Korea.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5965-3204
Sung Woo ParkDepartment of Internal Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Korea.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3378-7383
Gyeong-Won LeeDepartment of Internal Medicine, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju, Korea.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1781-2262
Jung Hun KangDepartment of Internal Medicine, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju, Korea.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5013-2683
Eduardo BrueraDepartment of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8745-0412
Gyeongsang National University · KRChangwon National University · KRChungnam National University · KRGyeongsang National University Hospital · KRThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: Limited research has been conducted on the prevalence of non-medical opioid use (NMOU) in Korean cancer patients who have received prescription opioids (PO). This study aimed to identify the potential proportion of NMOU in cancer patients who had been prescribed opioids in Korea. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted on 14,728 patients who underwent cancer-related treatment between January 2009 and December 2019, using electronically collected data from a tertiary hospital in Korea. Information regarding the type and duration of opioid use was gathered. A detailed review of medical charts was carried out, focusing on patients who had been prescribed opioids for over 60 days beyond a 12-month period following the completion of their cancer treatment (long-term PO users). Results: Out of the 5,587 patients who were prescribed PO and followed up for at least 12 months, 13 cases of NMOU were identified, representing 0.23% of the patient population. Among the 204 long-term PO users, the rate was 6.37% (13/204). The most commonly misused opioids were oxycodone and fentanyl. For the group confirmed to have NMOU, the median duration of prescription was 1,327 days in total. Of the 13 patients diagnosed with NMOU, 9 reported withdrawal symptoms, 3 exhibited craving behavior for opioids, and 1 experienced both symptoms. Conclusion: This study found that 0.23% of cancer patients who had been prescribed opioids in Korea demonstrated NMOU. Despite this relatively low rate, careful monitoring is necessary to minimize the risk of NMOU in this population, especially among long-term PO users.

Indexed as

EpidemiologyOpioid-related disordersPrescription drug misuse

Identifiers

PMID38075592
PMCPMC10703558
OpenAlexW4389392825

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.