Opioids for persistent pain in older adults.
Older adults compose a large portion of patients with persistent pain. Opioid analgesics are widely used to treat acute and persistent pain in cancer and end-of-life care, but their use in other types of persistent pain in older adults is controversial. Clinicians and regulators must work together, balancing the legitimate medical need for opioids while acknowledging increasing opioid misuse and morbidity and mortality related to opioids.
Sue Faulkner Scribner Professor of Geriatrics, Section Head, Palliative Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Glennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Norfolk, VA, USA. E-mail: galicimc@evms.edu.
Marissa
M
Galicia-Castillo
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D000067490:Prescription Drug Overuse
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid