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Published on: June 10, 2013
Associations between spousal or significant other solicitous responses and opioid dose in patients with chronic pain
Julie L Cunningham1, Sarah E Hayes, Cynthia O Townsend
1Department of Pharmacy, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Objective:
The primary aim of this study was to determine the effects of spouse or significant other solicitous responses on morphine equivalent dose among adults with chronic pain.
Design:
Retrospective design.
Setting:
Multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation center.
Patients:
The cohort included 466 consecutively admitted patients who had a spouse or significant other and were using daily opioids. Intervention. Three-week outpatient pain rehabilitation program.
Outcome Measures:
Solicitous subscale of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory and morphine equivalent dose upon admission.
Results:
The mean solicitous subscale score and morphine equivalent dose were 49.8 (standard deviation [SD] = 8.7) and 118mg/day (SD =149), respectively. Univariate linear regression analysis showed that greater subscale scores were associated with greater doses of opioids (P = 0.007). In a multivariate model adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, years of education, employment status, pain duration, depression, and pain severity, the association retained significance (P = 0.007).
Conclusions:
These findings suggest solicitous responses from a spouse or significant other may have an important influence on opioid dose among adults with chronic pain.
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