Chronic non-malignant pain (CNMP) and substance use disorders

Introduction Chronic non-malignant pain (CNMP) is defined as pain lasting a minimum of three months. In general, chronic pain affects 20% adult worldwide population. Moreover, pain is more common in patients with depression, anxiety, and substance-use disorders and with low socioeconomic status. We aimed to better understand the influence of pain on substance use and treatment use patterns of individuals who experienced clinically recognized pain and have substance use disorder. Methods Patients with pain disturbances were identified in Electronic Health Records (EHR) through ICD-9 code 338 * , medical written diagnoses, or diagnoses of fibromyalgia. A patient was considered to have a substance use disorder if he received treatment for illicit drug or alcohol abuse or dependence. We combined 2010–2012 (EHR) data from primary care and specialty mental health setting in a Boston healthcare system ( n  = 131,966 person-years) and a specialty mental health care setting in Madrid, Spain ( n  = 43,309 person-years). Results We identified that 35.3% of individuals with clinically recognized pain also report substance use disorder, compared to only 10.6% of individuals without clinically recognized pain ( P P Conclusion The findings suggest that CNMP is associated with an increase risk of substance abuse disorder.