Impact of long-term use of opioids on quality of life in patients with chronic, non-malignant pain

Abstract

Objective: The use of opioids in the management of non-malignant pain remains controversial. For many physicians, pain relief stemming from opioid use is not enough unless there is also a noticeable change in quality of life (QoL) and patient functioning. The impact of long-term opioid treatment on patients’ QoL has been investigated in a limited number of trials, and these studies differ considerably with respect to their design and principal findings. This systematic review presents the results of these studies.Design and methods: MEDLINE (1966 to November/December 2004), EMBASE (1974 to November/December 2004), the Oxford Pain Relief Database (Bandolier; 1954–1994) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were searched for relevant papers by combining search terms for function with terms for opioid analgesia, non-malignant and pain. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they met all of the pre-defined criteria specifying study design, population, intervention and outcom...