“A new study finds that over 60 percent of individuals who died from an opioid overdose had been diagnosed with a chronic pain condition, and many had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center reviewed more than 13,000 overdose deaths with the study the first to determine the proportion of those who died of an opioid overdose with chronic pain.
The analysis is timely as according to the US Centers for Disease Control, the number of opioid-related deaths has quadrupled, from 8,048 in 1999 to 33,091 in 2015.
The findings underscore the importance of providing substance use treatment services in conjunction with behavioral interventions for people with chronic pain.”
The study, “Service Use Preceding Opioid-Related Fatality,” appears online in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Read more at: https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/11/29/chronic-pain-mental-health-disorder-risk-of-opioid-overdose/129312.html
Source: PsychCentral.com – November 29, 2017
