Opioids for Chronic Pain: Evidence, Guidelines, and Policy and Practice Implications

Opioids have become commonly prescribed for chronic pain, but data indicate limited short-term benefits, unclear long-term benefits, and serious harms.

The presentation reviews epidemiological data on opioid prescribing, evidence on benefits and harms of opioid therapies, and recently released guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on use of opioids for chronic pain. Dr. Chou is the lead author on a systematic review of opioids for chronic pain conducted for an NIH Pathways to Prevention workshop and an author of the CDC guidelines.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand opioid prescribing patterns and epidemiology.
2. Understand risks and benefits of long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain.
3. Identify recommendations for safer opioid prescribing based on clinical practice guidelines, and understand implications for clinical practice.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Roger Chou is a professor in the Department of Medicine and Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University. He received his M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School. Dr. Chou’s diverse research interests include evaluating and managing pain (including low back pain, postoperative pain, and the use of opioids), disease screening and prevention, diagnostic test evaluation, and developing systematic reviews and clinical guidelines.  

Dr. Chou serves as a member of the Clinical Guidelines Committees of the American Pain Society (for which he also is director of Clinical Guidelines Development) and the American College of Physicians. He also is the Lead Investigator and Director of the Pacific Northwest Evidence-based Practice Center. In addition, Dr. Chou cochairs the National Quality Forum Musculoskeletal Standing Committee and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry’s Providers’ Clinical Support System for Opioids (PCSS-O) Clinical Experts Committee. Dr. Chou also is a member of the Cochrane Back Review Editorial Board. Among his ongoing research projects, Dr. Chou has received funding from the U.S. Army and the Brain Trauma Foundation to conduct evidence reviews and develop guidelines to screen, diagnose, and treat traumatic brain injury across the spectrum of severity.