Opioids are the most common prescription pain medication used by US adults from chronic low back pain (cLBP) and were typically used long-term, a recent study found. The Back Pain Survey was administered to a representative sample of US adults aged 20 to 69 years (n=5,103) during the 2009-2010 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Researchers found:

• 36.9% of the study population took at least 1 prescription pain medication in the past 30 days.
• 18.8% used opioids, 9.7% NSAIDs, 8.5% muscle relaxants, 6.9% gabapentin or pregabalin.
• Opioids were used long-term in 76.9% of cases (median 2 years) and were frequently co-administered with other CNS-active agents.
• Opioid use was highly prevalent among less educated subjects.