Improved Treatment for Patients With Long-term Opioid Therapy for Non-cancer Pain in Primary Care

The evidence for prescribing opioids to patients suffering from chronic non-cancer pain is weak, and using opioids in these circumstances is questionable. Swedish primary health care is responsible for about one-third of all first-time opioid prescriptions and has the highest rate of prescription renewals for opioids. The decision for long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) should rest on an accurate pain analysis and should result in an individualized assessment where the risks of LTOT are set against the impact on quality of life that living with long-term pain entails. Multi-professional interventions and a person-centered approach are recommended for chronic non-cancer pain. Although pharmacists in primary health care have been established internationally with successful examples related to LTOT, their role in Swedish primary care and the management of chronic non-cancer pain remains to be studied. Currently, it is unclear which interventions are effective in reducing inappropriate LTOT and which alternative interventions are suitable for patients who are currently receiving LTOT. The involvement of a care manager in the patient´s care has shown promising results regarding quality of care for other long-term conditions, for example depresssion. In Region Uppsala, clinical pharmacists havte recently been employed in primary health care, but it is unclear what their tasks and responsibilities are and how to best make use of their competence. It is therefore relevant and justified to investigate a new person-centered team-based approach including care manager and pharmacist to optimize the management of pain in patients with chronic non-cancer pain in Swedish primary care. This project aims to reduce inappropriate LTOT and optimize pain management in patients with LTOT for chronic non-cancer pain in primary care through a new person-centered and team-based approach. Primary objective: To investigate the effects of a new person-centred and team-based approach on pain interference in patients with LTOT for chronic non-cancer pain in primary care Trial design and setting: This study is a controlled before-and-after study that has been designed, and will be reported, according to the CONSORT guidelines. Participation will be during 52 weeks (12 months). This study will be conducted at eight healthcare centres in Region Uppsala. At four of the healthcare centres, a new person-centred team-based treatment model including pharmacists (intervention) will be implemented. Prerequisites for these healthcare centres are the accessibility of at least one person of each healthcare profession: pharmacist, general practitioner (GP), psychologist (or social worker) and physiotherapist, where one of these (or a rehabilitation coordinator or a nurse) takes the role of care manager. Healthcare personnel will receive special training in managing patients with chronic pain before the study. In addition, four control healthcare centres without a pharmacist will be matched with the intervention healthcare centres according to geographic area (urban, suburban, rural), socioeconomical setting and the size of the centres (number of listed patients). No specific efforts of implementation will be made in these control centres. Prior to the full trial, a feasibility study will be conducted at one intervention centre and one control centre with 12 weeks follow-up per participant.