TY - JOUR T1 - Among opioid-naive patients receiving opioids, more intensive opioid prescribing in the first month is associated with transition to long-term opioid use JF - Evidence Based Medicine JO - Evid Based Med SP - 112 LP - 112 DO - 10.1136/ebmed-2017-110710 VL - 22 IS - 3 AU - Marc R Larochelle Y1 - 2017/06/01 UR - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/22/3/112.abstract N2 - Commentary on: Deyo RA, Hallvik SE, Hildebran C, et al. Association between initial opioid prescribing patterns and subsequent long-term use among opioid-naïve patients: a statewide retrospective cohort study. J Gen Intern Med 2017;32(1):21-7.A recent systematic review of long-term opioid use for chronic pain found that evidence is lacking to support benefit from long-term opioid therapy, and evidence supports a dose-dependent risk of opioid-related harms including overdose and death.1 Despite the evidence, an estimated 5 to 8 million Americans receive long-term opioid therapy.2 Understanding the transition from acute or episodic use of opioids to long-term opioid use may help design interventions to reduce the incidence of long-term opioid use. This study sought to analyse the association between prescribing patterns in the first 30 days of opioid receipt among formerly opioid-naive subjects and transitioning to long-term opioid use. … ER -