Opioid painkillers put millions at risk of addiction or dependency

Millions of people are addicted to, or at risk of becoming dependent on, prescription opioid painkillers, according to international research.

The study found that one in three people taking prescribed opioid analgesics, which include codeine, tramadol, oxycodone and morphine, show symptoms of being dependent on them, while one in 10 become fully dependent on the drugs.

The research, led by academics from the University of Bristol and published in the journal Addiction, also showed that one in eight people are at risk of prescription opioid misuse.

It examined data from 148 international studies involving more than 4.3 million patients aged 12 and over who had non-cancer pain for three months or longer and who were prescribed the medicines.

While they are useful for short-term acute pain and managing end-of-life care, “opioid painkillers are not effective in the management of long-term pain,” said Kyla Thomas, a professor of public health medicine at the University of Bristol and lead author of the study. “They are associated with many harms. Our findings show that opioid misuse is much more common among patients taking them for long-term pain than perhaps people imagine.”

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Source: The Guardian, 7 August 2024