Decreasing Opioid Rx Levels May Help Lower Suicide Rates

Rather than looking at individualized data, the researchers focused on broader trends drawn from data from the national database held by IQVIA alongside mortality statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The team looked at data from 2009 to 2017. During that time, they looked at opioid prescription rates, rates specifically for high-dose opioids, and the number of long-term prescriptions. Additionally, they investigated the rate of having multiple opioid prescribers. They found over the study period that there was a down trend for all factors.

Although the suicide death rate increased during this period, from 13.80 to 16.36 per 100,000 people, researchers say it would have been even higher if opioid prescriptions had been as high. higher in 2017 than in 2009.

“If per capita opioid prescribing had remained constant from 2009 to 2017, there would have been approximately 10.5% more suicide deaths involving opioids in 2017,” Olfson said in a statement. statement.

For dr. Steven Siwekfounder of the Pain Center of Arizona, seeing patients struggling with mental health issues and suicide alongside their opioid use is a common theme.

“Despair is something I see every day…and without the hope of stable pain control, without the hope of some level of listening and addressing from someone, and to find a component that allows these patients stable pain control, a better level of functioning and better quality of life, that despair can fly away very quickly.

He says that for many of these patients, the use of opioids and other medications is not about completely eradicating their pain, but about reducing it and improving their quality of life. His hope is that this study will reinforce for clinicians that there is a link between suicide risk and opioid use and lead healthcare providers to devote more time and resources to chronic pain interventions. which do not include opioids.

“I’ll tell you that more than ever we’re looking at interventional therapies and minimally invasive surgeries as tools and options for solving pathology rather than just, ‘Here’s a drug that will make you feel better without solving the underlying problem. underlying.’

One of the findings of the study was that the more opioid prescribers a person has, the greater their risk. The study found that those who had three or more opioid prescribers were at higher risk of suicide. Peter Piraino (LMSW.LCCM) of Burning Tree says that in his work with those recovering from addiction, he has seen a shift from so-called “doctor shopping.”

“We used to see people coming to the door with 10, 12, 13 doctors. Many US states now have databases that do not allow a person to do this. So what we’re seeing now is more people just coming on fentanyl…but when doctor shopping was prevalent, yeah, we were seeing people with a minimum of three doctors. Like, it was a light day for them.

Research found that if the rate of people with more than one opioid prescriber had remained stable in 2017, there would have been around 19% more opioid-related suicide deaths.

Piraino is aware of the gap that forms when it comes to what might be considered the best way to treat those in need of opiates.

“You have two very polarizing points of view. Either there are not enough opioids and people are killing themselves; or, there are too many opioids and people are killing themselves. My hope would be that we look at the data better, and even do longitudinal studies in the future…and figure out how to reduce suicide.

For Michelle Sproule (MSc, LPC)clinical director of the Scottsdale Recovery Center, the emphasis is on meeting clients where they are when they hit their “bottom”, rather than being stubbornly prescriptive about the best approach.

“Because if we’re not looking at the whole person, and what’s going to affect them directly, and we’re just saying, ‘Well, that’s what works for these people in general’, then we’re not taking socioeconomic status, we don’t take into account the resources, we don’t take into account, maybe, some of the cultural aspects that might have an impact on them,” Sproule said. “And c It’s a disservice to the community. There’s no way to do it effectively and try to beat this stuff.