Chronic opioid use before and after exercise therapy and patient education among patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis

OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in opioid use after supervised exercise therapy and patient education among knee or hip osteoarthritis patients with chronic opioid use.

METHOD: In this cohort study, we linked data from the Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark register (GLA:D®; standardised treatment program for osteoarthritis; January 2013 to November 2018) with national health registries. Among 35 549 patients, 1262 were classified as chronic opioid users based on amount and temporal distribution of dispensed opioids the year before the intervention. We investigated changes in opioid use, measured as mg oral morphine equivalents (OMEQs), from the year before the intervention to the year after using generalized estimating equations.

RESULTS: We found a 10% decrease in mg OMEQs from the year before to the year after the intervention (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86, 0.94). Additional analyses suggested this decrease to be mainly attributable to regulatory actions targeting opioid prescribing during the study period (IRR among patients participating in the intervention before: 0.98 [95% CI: 0.89, 1.07] vs. after: 0.83 [0.74, 0.93] regulatory actions). In a random general population sample of matched chronic opioid users, a similar opioid use pattern was observed over time, further supporting the impact of regulatory actions on the opioid use in the study population.

CONCLUSION: Among patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis and chronic opioid use, a standardised treatment program did not change opioid use when regulatory changes in opioid prescribing were taken into account.