New nhs trial to look at reducing dependence on opioids | nursing times

Nursingtimes

New nhs trial to look at reducing dependence on opioids | nursing times"


Play all audios:

Loading...

A new trial is to look at a support programme designed to help patients with long-term pain reduce their dependency on strong opioid painkillers. The study, funded by the NHS National


Institute for Health Research, will assess a programme developed by the University of Warwick and James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. > “Despite an overwhelming message of 


restraint, opioid prescribing > continues to increase” >  > Harbinder Sandhu It will be comparing two treatments – existing GP care, plus a self-help booklet and relaxation CD or GP


care plus a specifically designed group and one-to-one support programme. The support programme will be led by a research nurse and a trained lay person who has chronic pain but has reduced


their opioids intake. It will include sessions on coping techniques, stress management, goal setting, mindfulness, posture and movement advice, how to manage any withdrawal symptoms, and


pain control after opioids The intervention is targeting patients using painkillers up to and including tramadol for persistent non-cancer pain, which account for 95% of strong opioids


prescribed in the UK within primary care. Researchers will measure the everyday functioning and opioid use of over 450 volunteers taking part in the I-WOTCH – Improving the Wellbeing of


People with Opioid Treated Chronic Pain – study. Both groups will keep a diary for four months on quality of life and any withdrawal symptoms and complete surveys about their everyday


functioning and painkiller intake at intervals during the trial. > “The great majority of patients who come off strong painkillers > feel much better in themselves” >  > Sam 


Eldabe The intervention will run in in three locations: North East England; North East London; and the West Midlands. The 468 participants will be recruited from around 100 general


practices, and from community pain/musculoskeletal services across the three locations. The trial is being led by Dr Harbinder Sandhu, associate professor at Warwick Medical School, and


Professor Sam Eldabe, consultant in pain medicine at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Sandhu noted that opioids were only effective in the short term and those taking them


routinely needed to manage a range of side effects and could experience “devastating withdrawal symptoms”. “We hope that the results of our study will be used to help patients with long-term


pain in the future,” she said. “Structured, group-based, psycho-educational self-management interventions help people to better manage their daily lives with a long-term condition,


including persistent pain, but few of these have specifically targeted patients considering opioid withdrawal,” she said. She added: “There are substantial potential benefits to individuals


and to the health and social care system from reducing opioid use. Despite an overwhelming message of restraint, opioid prescribing continues to increase.” Dr Sandhu highlighted that reports


indicated that during 2000-10 UK opioid prescriptions for non-cancer pain increased by 466% and in 2015 there were 16 million prescriptions costing over £200m. Professor Eldabe said: “Our


clinical experience of helping people who wished to come off strong painkillers is that the great majority feel much better in themselves, are better able to interact with their families,


become more outgoing and active and perhaps surprisingly complain of no more pain than when they were taking the painkillers.”


Trending News

Enabling better places: a handbook for improved neighborhoods (download page)

Memorial Day Sale! Join AARP for just $11 per year with a 5-year membership Join now and get a FREE gift. Expires 6/4  G...

Adeno-associated viral vector-mediated hypoxia-regulated vegf gene transfer promotes angiogenesis following focal cerebral ischemia in mice

ABSTRACT Uncontrolled expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) _in vivo_ may cause unexpected side effect...

Virginia tech shootings: what people are asking and what christians should say

We have read the horrific accounts from witness and school officials at Virginia Tech explaining in some detail of the m...

Kev Hackney Oval - Cricket Ground in Buderim, Australia

Matches (7)IPL (2)ENG-A vs IND-A (1)WCL 2 (1)WI-A vs SA-A (1)ENG vs WI (1)Vitality Blast Men (1) PreviousFinal • IPL •  ...

Tiktok ban: donald trump to ban tiktok in the usa - reports

Fox News has reported that President Trump's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is looking to ban the Chinese-made soci...

Latests News

New nhs trial to look at reducing dependence on opioids | nursing times

A new trial is to look at a support programme designed to help patients with long-term pain reduce their dependency on s...

Strictly come dancing: alexandra burke confesses jealousy over gorka

The 29-year-old former X Factor winner has had a tough couple of weeks, with the public appearing to turn on her, even l...

Electrically induced colossal capacitance enhancement in laalo3/srtio3 heterostructures

ABSTRACT The demonstration of a tunable conductivity for the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces by field effect drew significant a...

Gamecocks unveil 2013 uniforms - fitsnews

COLUMBIA, S.C. (August 3, 2013) – Under Armour and the University of South Carolina have partnered to design a new look ...

Object. Create()… what it does and when to use it.

Firstly, Object.create() is a Javascript method that creates a new object. It takes an object as its 1st parameter, and ...

Top