Polyneuropathy is a common condition, with related impairments including neuropathic pain. This study examined the prevalence of long-term opioid therapy among patients with polyneuropathy and the association between the duration of opioid therapy and functional status, adverse outcome rates and mortality.

Data were obtained from the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) database. This database was queried for opioid and other medication prescriptions, as well as for the indication for opioid prescriptions among those receiving 90 or more consecutive days of opioid therapy (defined as long-term use). Patients with polyneuropathy and matched controls were compared by functional status and adverse outcomes, including mortality.

Compared with controls, those receiving chronic opioids were more likely to have a medical comorbidity, with the exception of paralysis, cancer and AIDS. By specialty, the most likely prescribers of long-term opioid therapy were internal medicine 69.5% and family medicine 13.2% physicians. Only 3.7% of the patients received their prescriptions for long-term opioid therapy from pain physicians. After adjusting for confounding variables, those with long-term opioid therapy were found to be at significantly higher risk for depression (hazard ratio (HR) 1.53), opioid overdose (HR 5.12), opioid dependence (HR 2.85) and other chemical dependence (HR 1.7). The adjusted HR for mortality was not statistically significant.

This population based study of patients with polyneuropathy found that 18.8% received long-term opioids, with long-term use associated with depression, opioid dependence and opioid overdose.