title: The effectiveness and risks of long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain: a systematic review for a National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increases in prescriptions of opioid medications for chronic pain have been accompanied by increases in opioid overdoses, abuse, and other harms and uncertainty about long-term effectiveness.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate evidence on the effectiveness and harms of long-term (>3 months) opioid therapy for chronic pain in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PsycINFO, and CINAHL (January 2008 through August 2014); relevant studies from a prior review; reference lists; and ClinicalTrials.gov.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized trials and observational studies that involved adults with chronic pain who were prescribed long-term opioid therapy and that evaluated opioid therapy versus placebo, no opioid, or nonopioid therapy; different opioid dosing strategies; or risk mitigation strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dual extraction and quality assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No study of opioid therapy versus no opioid therapy evaluated long-term (>1 year) outcomes related to pain, function, quality of life, opioid abuse, or addiction. Good- and fair-quality observational studies suggest that opioid therapy for chronic pain is associated with increased risk for overdose, opioid abuse, fractures, myocardial infarction, and markers of sexual dysfunction, although there are few studies for each of these outcomes; for some harms, higher doses are associated with increased risk. Evidence on the effectiveness and harms of different opioid dosing and risk mitigation strategies is limited.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Non-English-language articles were excluded, meta-analysis could not be done, and publication bias could not be assessed. No placebo-controlled trials met inclusion criteria, evidence was lacking for many comparisons and outcomes, and observational studies were limited in their ability to address potential confounding.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidence is insufficient to determine the effectiveness of long-term opioid therapy for improving chronic pain and function. Evidence supports a dose-dependent risk for serious harms.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Emily B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Devine
authors.forename: Ryan N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Sean D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Blazina
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dana
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bougatsos
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Deyo
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000209:etiology; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid