Pain, Substance Use Disorders and Opioid Analgesic Prescription Patterns in Veterans with Hepatitis C

Abstract To examine the prevalence of pain, substance use disorder (SUD) diagnoses, and opioid analgesic prescription patterns among veterans infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), a retrospective review of the medical records of 8,224 HCV-positive (HCV+) veterans was performed. Twenty-nine percent and 46% of HCV+ patients were prescribed opioids in the prior one and three years, respectively. Sixty-seven percent of HCV+ patients had documented pain diagnoses and 56% had SUD diagnoses. Patients with co-occurring pain and SUD were less likely to be prescribed opioids than patients with pain only (prior year: 36% vs. 43%, P P P P