Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • First Release
    • Current
    • Archives
    • Collections
    • Audiovisual Rheum
    • COVID-19 and Rheumatology
  • Resources
    • Guide for Authors
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Author Payment
    • Reviewers
    • Advertisers
    • Classified Ads
    • Reprints and Translations
    • Permissions
    • Meetings
    • FAQ
    • Policies
  • Subscribers
    • Subscription Information
    • Purchase Subscription
    • Your Account
    • Terms and Conditions
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Letter from the Editor
    • Duncan A. Gordon Award
    • GDPR Policy
    • Accessibility
  • Contact Us
  • JRheum Supplements
  • Services

User menu

  • My Cart
  • Log In

Search

  • Advanced search
The Journal of Rheumatology
  • JRheum Supplements
  • Services
  • My Cart
  • Log In
The Journal of Rheumatology

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • First Release
    • Current
    • Archives
    • Collections
    • Audiovisual Rheum
    • COVID-19 and Rheumatology
  • Resources
    • Guide for Authors
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Author Payment
    • Reviewers
    • Advertisers
    • Classified Ads
    • Reprints and Translations
    • Permissions
    • Meetings
    • FAQ
    • Policies
  • Subscribers
    • Subscription Information
    • Purchase Subscription
    • Your Account
    • Terms and Conditions
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Letter from the Editor
    • Duncan A. Gordon Award
    • GDPR Policy
    • Accessibility
  • Contact Us
  • Follow jrheum on Twitter
  • Visit jrheum on Facebook
  • Follow jrheum on LinkedIn
  • Follow jrheum on RSS
Research ArticleOther Arthritides

Opioid Use among Patients with Early Inflammatory Arthritides Compared to the General Population

Paula Muilu, Vappu Rantalaiho, Hannu Kautiainen, Lauri Juhani Virta and Kari Puolakka
The Journal of Rheumatology August 2020, 47 (8) 1285-1292; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.190355
Paula Muilu
From the Department of Medicine, Tampere University Hospital; Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, Tampere University Hospital; Faculty on Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere; Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital; Primary Health Care Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, and Folkhälsan Research Centre, Helsinki; Unit of Primary Health Care, Turku University Hospital; Research Department, Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Turku; Department of Medicine, South Karelia Central Hospital, Lappeenranta, Finland.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Paula Muilu
  • For correspondence: paula.muilu@gmail.com paula.muilu@pshp.fi
Vappu Rantalaiho
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Vappu Rantalaiho
Hannu Kautiainen
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Hannu Kautiainen
Lauri Juhani Virta
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Lauri Juhani Virta
Kari Puolakka
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Kari Puolakka
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
  • eLetters
PreviousNext
Loading

Abstract

Objective. To assess to what extent the worldwide opioid epidemic affects Finnish patients with early inflammatory arthritis (IA).

Methods. From the nationwide register maintained by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, we collected all incident adult patients with newly onset seropositive and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA+ and RA–) and undifferentiated arthritis (UA) between 2010 and 2014. For each case, 3 general population (GP) controls were matched according to age, sex, and place of residence. Drug purchases between 2009 and 2015 were evaluated 1 year before and after the index date (date of IA diagnosis), further dividing this time into 3-month periods.

Results. A total of 12,115 patients (66% women) were identified. At least 1 opioid purchase was done by 23–27% of the patients 1 year before and 15–20% one year after the index date. Relative risk (RR) of opioid purchases compared to GP was highest during the last 3-month time period before the index date [RR 2.81 (95% CI 2.55–3.09), 3.06 (2.68-3.49), and 4.04 (3.51–4.65) for RA+, RA–, and UA, respectively] but decreased after the index date [RR 1.38 (1.23–1.58), 1.91 (1.63–2.24), and 2.51 (2.15–2.93)]. Up to 4% of the patients were longterm users both before and after the diagnosis.

Conclusion. During 2009–15 in Finland, opioid use peaked just before the diagnosis of IA but decreased rapidly after that, suggesting effective disease control, especially in seropositive RA. Further, opioids were used to treat arthritis pain of patients with incident RA and UA less often than previously reported from other countries.

Key Indexing Terms:
  • RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
  • UNDIFFERENTIATED ARTHRITIS
  • OPIOID ANALGESICS
  • PAIN
  • Accepted for publication September 24, 2019.
View Full Text

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Rheumatology
Vol. 47, Issue 8
1 Aug 2020
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by Author
  • Editorial Board (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about The Journal of Rheumatology.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Opioid Use among Patients with Early Inflammatory Arthritides Compared to the General Population
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from The Journal of Rheumatology
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the The Journal of Rheumatology web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Opioid Use among Patients with Early Inflammatory Arthritides Compared to the General Population
Paula Muilu, Vappu Rantalaiho, Hannu Kautiainen, Lauri Juhani Virta, Kari Puolakka
The Journal of Rheumatology Aug 2020, 47 (8) 1285-1292; DOI: 10.3899/jrheum.190355

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

 Request Permissions

Share
Opioid Use among Patients with Early Inflammatory Arthritides Compared to the General Population
Paula Muilu, Vappu Rantalaiho, Hannu Kautiainen, Lauri Juhani Virta, Kari Puolakka
The Journal of Rheumatology Aug 2020, 47 (8) 1285-1292; DOI: 10.3899/jrheum.190355
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Save to my folders

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • MATERIALS AND METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • Acknowledgment
    • Footnotes
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
  • eLetters

Keywords

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
UNDIFFERENTIATED ARTHRITIS
OPIOID ANALGESICS
PAIN

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients With Autoimmune Disease and COVID-19: A Matched Cohort Study From New York City
  • Improving Hydroxychloroquine Dosing and Toxicity Screening at a Tertiary Care Ambulatory Center: A Quality Improvement Initiative
  • “Unspoken Questions”: A Qualitative Study of Rheumatologists’ Perspectives on the Clinical Implementation of Patient-reported Outcome Measures
Show more Other Arthritides

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • rheumatoid arthritis
  • UNDIFFERENTIATED ARTHRITIS
  • OPIOID ANALGESICS
  • pain

Content

  • First Release
  • Current
  • Archives
  • Collections
  • Audiovisual Rheum
  • COVID-19 and Rheumatology

Resources

  • Guide for Authors
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Author Payment
  • Reviewers
  • Advertisers
  • Classified Ads
  • Reprints and Translations
  • Permissions
  • Meetings
  • FAQ
  • Policies

Subscribers

  • Subscription Information
  • Purchase Subscription
  • Your Account
  • Terms and Conditions

More

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • My Alerts
  • My Folders
  • RSS Feeds
The Journal of Rheumatology
The content of this site is intended for health care professionals.
Copyright © 2016 by The Journal of Rheumatology Publishing Co. Ltd.
Print ISSN: 0315-162X; Online ISSN: 1499-2752
Powered by HighWire