The following is a summary of “Is post-traumatic stress disorder a risk factor for development of opioid use disorder among individuals with chronic non-cancer pain? A systematic review,” published in the September 2023 issue of Pain by Kendurkar et al.

The link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) in patients with chronic non-cancer pain is unclear. Researchers performed a retrospective study to estimate the risk of opioid use disorder and identify potential correlates among individuals with chronic non-cancer pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.

They conducted this systematic review and identified longitudinal, epidemiological, cohort, follow-up, retrospective, prospective, and cross-sectional studies that reported variance measures on the likelihood of developing opioid use disorder alongside post-traumatic stress disorder in individuals with chronic non-cancer pain. The studies were obtained from six electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Evidence-based Medicine Reviews, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science) up to December 2022.

The results showed that 3/4 of selected studies indicated a statistically significant positive link between the risk of developing opioid use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder among chronic non-cancer pain cohorts (unadjusted Relative-Risk range: 1.51–5.27). After accounting for sociodemographic variables, the fourth study did not show this association (adjusted Relative-Risk: 0.96; not statistically significant). The increased risk was mainly observed in females with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions.

They concluded that PTSD increases the risk of OUD in chronic non-cancer pain patients, and understanding this relationship is vital to prevention and treatment.

 Source: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20494637231202078