• L Duensing, N Eksterowicz, A Macario, M Brown, L Stern, and A Ogbonnaya.
• American Academy of Pain Management, Sonora, CA, USA.
• Curr Med Res Opin. 2010 Jul 1;26(7):1579-85.

ObjectiveTo study physician and patient perceptions of moderate-to-severe chronic pain and its management with oral opioids.MethodsTwo separate surveys were developed and administered to one of two respective study groups: patients and physicians. All study participants recruited from a pool of individuals who had previously agreed to participate in market research. Survey questions addressed the impact of various factors (e.g., quality of life indicators, potential for opioid addiction, side-effects) on pain management decision making, patient satisfaction and compliance. Responses for the first 500 patients and 275 physicians to respond were assessed using descriptive statistics.ResultsOn average, patients were 53 years of age, white (89%), and female (71%). The majority of patients (80%) had been taking oral opioids longer than 6 months. Physicians reported that 45% of their patients received schedule II opioids, with 27% having severe chronic pain. Patients indicated the most common activities interfered with by chronic pain were exercising (76% of patients), working outside the home (67%), and job responsibilities (60%). When developing a treatment approach physicians considered patients' sleeping (91%), walking (86%), maintaining an independent lifestyle (84%), and job responsibilities (83%). Patients and physicians both rated the ability to relieve pain and the duration of relief as the most important factors when considering opioid therapy. The majority (63%) of patients reported experiencing opioid side effects. When physicians discontinued opioids due to side effects, the most frequent reason was nausea (78%) for immediate-release opioids, and constipation (64%) for extended-release formulations.ConclusionThe ability to relieve pain and the duration of that pain relief are the most important factors for both patients and physicians when selecting an opioid. A high percentage of patients surveyed experienced side effects related to their treatment, which may impact adherence and overall treatment effectiveness. Study results should be assessed within study limitations including responder and selection biases, physicians responded about their patients, who were not the same patients surveyed, and the fact that the survey instruments were not formally validated. Further research is warranted to address these limitations.

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