Many surgeons neglect to consider patients' socioeconomic backgrounds when prescribing opioids and providing general pain treatment, according to a study recently published in Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma.
Here's what you need to know:
1. The 182 participating patients responded as such:
- 19.2 percent felt under-medicated after surgery
- 12.6 percent used pain medications at a higher dose than prescribed
- 9.3 percent used external opioids
2. The survey revealed sources of extraneous opioids included family, friends and other physicians.
3. Unemployed and lower-income patients were more likely to:
- Believe their surgeons hadn't prescribed them enough pain medications
- Use prescribed opioid medications at a higher than recommended dose
4. Unemployed patients used additional opioid analgesics in addition to their surgeon-prescribed opioids more often than employed patients.
5. The study included patients who had undergone operations on fractures involving the pelvis, long bones, knee, ankle, elbow and wrist.
Researchers recommend surgeons be more mindful and aware of patients' socioeconomic backgrounds when providing effective pain treatment.
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