Table 2.
Analgesic Use Over time
| Analgesic groupa | Baseline (n=4,231), n (%) |
12-month visit (n=3,891), n (%) |
24-month visit (n=3,764), n (%) |
36-month visit (n=3,762), n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opioids | 114 (2.7) | 106 (2.7) | 109 (2.9) | 137 (3.6) |
| Antidepressants | 559 (13.2) | 496 (12.8) | 497 (13.2) | 484 (12.9) |
| Prescription pain medications | 706 (16.7) | 526 (13.5) | 468 (12.4) | 449 (11.9) |
| OTC pain medications | 712 (16.8) | 620 (15.9) | 557 (14.8) | 584 (15.5) |
| Nutraceuticals | 667(15.8) | 676 (17.4) | 624 (16.6) | 576 (15.3) |
| No pain medications | 1,473 (34.8) | 1,467 (37.7) | 1,509 (40.1) | 1,532 (40.7) |
Abbreviations: NSAIDs: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; OTC: over the counter.
Patients were grouped into 6 exclusive subgroups in the following hierarchical order of analgesic potency and central nervous system (CNS) effects: any use of (1) opioids (i.e., any oral or transdermal prescription opioids), (2) antidepressants (i.e., no opioids, but with any antidepressants), (3) prescription pain medications (i.e., no opioids/antidepressants, but with any NSAIDs, triptans and salicylates) (4) OTC pain medications (i.e., no opioids/antidepressants/prescription pain medications, but with OTC NSAIDs and acetaminophen), (5) nutraceuticals including chondroitin, glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe), and (6) no pain medications use.