With increasing concerns about the potential harm of long-term opioid therapy, there is a need for the development and implementation of alternative treatment strategies for patients with chronic pain who have been using opioids for a prolonged period of time. Based on the findings from a recent qualitative investigation that suggested there may be a bidirectional association between opioid reliance and habitual overactivity behaviour (activity engagement that significantly exacerbates pain), this study was designed to quantitatively investigate the association between opioid use and habitual overactivity over a five-day period in a group of chronic pain patients. Participants provided a list of their prescribed pain medication, completed a self-report measure of habitual overactivity, and then commenced five days of data collection. Data collection required participants to wear an activity monitor and to complete a diary that detailed their daily activities and the time they took medication. Individuals reporting higher levels of habitual overactivity were more likely to be prescribed opioids. In addition, higher levels of habitual overactivity were associated with more frequent "as needed" (PRN) opioid use over the five days, and with a discrepancy between the prescribed and actual oral Morphine-Equivalent Daily Dose (oMEDD), where more medication was taken than was prescribed. There was no predominant context for PRN use. The results of this study support the idea that habitual overactivity behaviour may play a role in the development of a reliance on opioid medication, and that such an association may provide a potential treatment target for opioid therapy rationalisation.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
3
4%
Other
9
11%
Unknown
20
25%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 7. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 September 2020.
All research outputs
#7,172,828
of 34,362,729 outputs
Outputs from Pain (03043959)
#3,151
of 7,965 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#93,439
of 452,492 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Pain (03043959)
#52
of 102 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,362,729 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 79th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,965 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 16.5. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 60% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 452,492 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 79% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 102 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 49th percentile – i.e., 49% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
