Short- and Long-term Opioid Use in Patients with Oral and Oropharynx Cancer:

ObjectiveOpioid use and abuse is a national health care crisis, yet opioids remain the cornerstone of pain management in cancer. We sought to determine the risk of acute and chronic opioid use with head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) treatment.Study DesignRetrospective population-based study.SettingSurveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)–Medicare database from 2008 to 2011.Subjects and MethodsIn total, 976 nondistant metastatic oral cavity and oropharynx patients undergoing cancer-directed treatment enrolled in Medicare were included. Opiate use was the primary end point. Univariate and multivariable logistic analyses were completed to determine risk factors.ResultsOf the patients, 811 (83.1%) received an opioid prescription during the treatment period, and 150 patients (15.4%) had continued opioid prescriptions at 3 months and 68 (7.0%) at 6 months. Opioid use during treatment was associated with prescriptions prior to treatment (odds ratio [OR], 3.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.11-...