Rates of appropriate laxative prophylaxis for opioid-induced constipation in veterans with lung cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) is the most common side effect in patient-prescribed opioids for cancer pain treatment. Current guidelines recommend routine prescription of a laxative for preventing OIC in all patients prescribed an opioid unless a contraindication exists. We determined p...

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Published in:Supportive Care in Cancer Vol. 28; no. 11; pp. 5315 - 5322
Main Authors: Brown, Timothy J., Keshvani, Neil, Gupta, Arjun, Yang, Hui, Agrawal, Deepak, Le, Tri C., Gerber, David E., Alvarez, Carlos A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer Nature Nov2020
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Nov2020
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      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
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        atl: Rates of appropriate laxative prophylaxis for opioid-induced constipation in veterans with lung cancer: a retrospective cohort study.
      aug:
        au:
          Brown, Timothy J.
          Keshvani, Neil
          Gupta, Arjun
          Yang, Hui
          Agrawal, Deepak
          Le, Tri C.
          Gerber, David E.
          Alvarez, Carlos A.
        affil: Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Cathartics Therapeutic Use
          Chemoprevention Statistics and Numerical Data
          Veterans Statistics and Numerical Data
          Lung Neoplasms Drug Therapy
          Retrospective Design
          Aged
          Adult
          Palliative Care Statistics and Numerical Data
          Middle Age
          Analgesics, Opioid Adverse Effects
          Prospective Studies
          Palliative Care Methods
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Lung Neoplasms Epidemiology
          Chemoprevention Methods
          Male
          Pain Therapy
          Female
          Aged: 65+ years
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Purpose: Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) is the most common side effect in patient-prescribed opioids for cancer pain treatment. Current guidelines recommend routine prescription of a laxative for preventing OIC in all patients prescribed an opioid unless a contraindication exists. We determined patterns of prescription of laxative agents in patients with lung cancer initiating opioids.Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study evaluating the prescription of laxatives for OIC to adult patients with incident lung cancer seen in the Veteran's Affairs (VA) system, between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2016. Exposure to laxative agents was categorized as follows: none, docusate monotherapy, docusate plus another laxative, and other laxatives only. Prevalence of OIC prophylaxis was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Linear regression was performed to identify time trends in the prescription of OIC prophylaxis.Results: Overall, 130,990 individuals were included in the analysis. Of these, 87% of patients received inadequate prophylaxis (75% no prophylaxis and 12% docusate alone), while 5% received OIC prophylaxis with the unnecessary addition of docusate to another laxative. Through the study period, laxative prescription significantly decreased, while all other categories of OIC prophylaxis were unchanged. We noted an inverse relationship with OIC prophylaxis and likelihood of a diagnosis of constipation at 3 and 6 months.Conclusions: In this study of veterans with lung cancer, almost 90% received inadequate or inappropriate OIC prophylaxis. Efforts to educate physicians and patients to promote appropriate OIC prophylaxis in combination with systems-level changes are warranted.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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