Opioids contribute to fracture risk: a meta-analysis of 8 cohort studies.
meta_analysis · Level I
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26030421.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0128232 and PMC identifier 4452583.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between chronic opioid use for non-cancer pain and fracture risk by conducting a meta-analysis of cohort studies. METHODS: Cohort studies were identified by searching PubMed and EMBASE from their inception to July 2014. A fracture was considered an endpoint. The information was extracted by two authors independently. When the heterogeneity was significant, a random-effects model was used to calculate the overall pooled risk estimates. RESULTS: Eight cohort studies were included in the final meta-analysis. On the basis of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), six studies were considered to be of high quality. The overall combined relative risk for the use of opioids and fractures was 1.88 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.51-2.34). A subgroup analysis revealed the sources of heterogeneity. The sensitivity analysis indicated stable results, and no publication bias was observed. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis of cohort studies demonstrates that opioids significantly increase the risk of fractures.
Medical subject headings
- Analgesics, Opioid
- Fractures, Bone