Does Reducing Drinking in Patients with Unhealthy Alcohol Use Improve Pain Interference, Use of Other Substances, and Psychiatric Symptoms?

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the impact of reducing drinking in patients with unhealthy alcohol use on improvement of chronic pain interference, substance use, and psychiatric symptoms. METHODS: We analyzed longitudinal data from 2003 to 2015 in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a prospective, multisite observational study of US veterans, by emulating a hypothetical randomized trial (a target trial). Alcohol use was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire, and outcome conditions were assessed via validated survey items. Individuals were followed from the first time their AUDIT score was ≥ 8 (baseline), a threshold consistent with unhealthy alcohol use. We compared individuals who reduced drinking (AUDIT < 8) at the next follow-up visit with individuals who did not (AUDIT ≥ 8). We fit separate logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios for improvement of each condition 2 years postbaseline among individuals who had that condition at baseline: moderate or severe pain interference symptoms, tobacco smoking, cannabis use, cocaine use, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Inverse probability weighting was used to account for potential selection bias and confounding. RESULTS: Adjusted 2-year odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for associations between reducing drinking and improvement or resolution of each condition were as follows: 1.49 (0.91, 2.42) for pain interference symptoms, 1.57 (0.93, 2.63) for tobacco smoking, 1.65 (0.92, 2.95) for cannabis use, 1.83 (1.03, 3.27) for cocaine use, 1.11 (0.64, 1.92) for depressive symptoms, and 1.33 (0.80, 2.22) for anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We found some evidence for improvement of pain interference symptoms and substance use after reducing drinking among US veterans with unhealthy alcohol use, but confidence intervals were wide.

Alcohol-Related Care Among Veterans With Unhealthy Alcohol Use: The Role of Long-Term Opioid Therapy Receipt.

OBJECTIVES: Long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) is potentially dangerous among patients with unhealthy alcohol use because of possible adverse interactions. We examined receipt of alcohol-related care among patients with unhealthy alcohol use receiving LTOT and without opioid receipt. METHODS: We use data collected from 2009 to 2017 in the Women Veterans Cohort Study, a national cohort of Veterans engaged in Veterans Health Administration care. We included patients who screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use (score ≥5) using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Consumption questionnaire. Our primary exposure was LTOT (receipt of prescribed opioids for ≥90 days) versus no opioid receipt at the time of the first positive Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Consumption. Our primary outcome was receipt of brief intervention within 14 days of positive alcohol screen. Unadjusted and 4 adjusted modified Poisson regression models assessed prevalence and relative rates (RRs) of outcomes. RESULTS: Among eligible veterans, 6222 of 113,628 (5.5%) received LTOT at screening. Among patients receiving LTOT, 67.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 66.3%-68.6%) had a documented brief intervention within 14 days of positive screen, compared with 70.1% (95% CI, 69.8%-70.4%) among patients without opioid receipt (RR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.95-0.98; P < 0.001). Within adjusted models, the rate of brief intervention among patients receiving LTOT remained lower than patients without opioid receipt. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with unhealthy alcohol use, patients receiving LTOT had significantly lower rates of brief intervention receipt compared with those without opioid receipt, and they should be a focus for interventions to improve alcohol-related care and safer opioid prescribing.

Marijuana Use Is Not Associated With Changes in Opioid Prescriptions or Pain Severity Among People Living With HIV and Chronic Pain.

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV (PLWH) commonly report marijuana use for chronic pain, although there is limited empirical evidence to support its use. There is hope that marijuana may reduce prescription opioid use. Our objective was to investigate whether marijuana use among PLWH who have chronic pain is associated with changes in pain severity and prescribed opioid use (prescribed opioid initiation and discontinuation). METHODS: Participants completed self-report measures of chronic pain and marijuana use at an index visit and were followed up for 1 year in the Center for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS). Self-reported marijuana use was the exposure variable. Outcome variables were changes in pain and initiation or discontinuation of opioids during the study period. The relationship between exposure and outcomes was assessed using generalized linear models for pain and multivariable binary logistic regression models for opioid initiation/discontinuation. RESULTS: Of 433 PLWH and chronic pain, 28% reported marijuana use in the past 3 months. Median pain severity at the index visit was 6.3/10 (interquartile range 4.7-8.0). Neither increases nor decreases in marijuana use were associated with changes in pain severity, and marijuana use was not associated with either lower odds of opioid initiation or higher odds of opioid discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find evidence that marijuana use in PLWH is associated with improved pain outcomes or reduced opioid prescribing. This suggests that caution is warranted when counseling PLWH about potential benefits of recreational or medical marijuana.

Nonantiretroviral polypharmacy and adverse health outcomes among HIV-infected and uninfected individuals.

BACKGROUND: HIV-positive individuals (HIV+) on antiretrovirals commonly take enough other medications to cross a threshold for polypharmacy but little is known about associated outcomes. We asked whether non-antiretroviral polypharmacy is associated with hospitalization and mortality and whether associations differ by HIV status. METHODS: Data on HIV+ and uninfected individuals in the US Veterans Affairs Healthcare System were analyzed. Eligible HIV+ were on antiretrovirals with suppressed HIV-1 RNA and uninfected individuals received at least one medication. We calculated average non-antiretroviral medication count for fiscal year 2009. As there is no established threshold for non-antiretroviral polypharmacy, we considered more than two and at least five medications. We followed for hospitalization and mortality (fiscal year 2010-2015), adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity and VACS Index. RESULTS: Among 9473 HIV+ and 39 812 uninfected individuals respectively, non-antiretroviral polypharmacy was common (>2: 67, 71%; ≥5: 34, 39%). VACS Index discriminated risk of hospitalization (c-statistic: 0.62, 0.60) and mortality (c-statistic: 0.72, 0.70) similarly in both groups. After adjustment, more than two (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.46-1.55) and at least five non-antiretrovirals (hazard ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.49-1.56) were associated with hospitalization with no interaction by HIV status. Risk of mortality associated with more than two non-antiretrovirals interacted with HIV status (P = 0.002), but not for at least five (adjusted hazard ratio 1.43, 95% CI 1.36-1.50). For both groups and both outcomes, average medication count demonstrated an independent, dose response, association. CONCLUSION: Neither severity of illness nor demographics explain a dose response, association of non-antiretroviral polypharmacy with adverse health outcomes among HIV+ and uninfected individuals.