Objective: The primary aim of this study was to determine the effects of spouse or significant other solicitous responses on morphine equivalent dose among adults with chronic pain.
Design: Retrospective design.
Setting: Multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation center.
Patients: The cohort included 466 consecutively admitted patients who had a spouse or significant other and were using daily opioids. Intervention. Three-week outpatient pain rehabilitation program.
Outcome measures: Solicitous subscale of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory and morphine equivalent dose upon admission.
Results: The mean solicitous subscale score and morphine equivalent dose were 49.8 (standard deviation [SD] = 8.7) and 118mg/day (SD =149), respectively. Univariate linear regression analysis showed that greater subscale scores were associated with greater doses of opioids (P = 0.007). In a multivariate model adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, years of education, employment status, pain duration, depression, and pain severity, the association retained significance (P = 0.007).
Conclusions: These findings suggest solicitous responses from a spouse or significant other may have an important influence on opioid dose among adults with chronic pain.
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