Prescriber Adherence to Guidelines for Chronic Noncancer Pain Management with Opioids: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objective: This review quantified prescriber adherence to opioid prescribing guidelines for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP).

Method: We searched CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and the Joanna Briggs Institute EBP Database from inception until June 3, 2019. Studies that focused on provider adherence to opioids guidelines for CNCP in North America were eligible. Four reviewers screened studies, extracted data, and assessed study quality.

Results: Thirty-eight studies were eligible, comprising 17 cross-sectional studies ( = 11,835 providers) and 22 chart reviews ( = 22,512 patients). Survey data indicated that adherence was 49% (95% CI [40, 59]) for treatment agreements, 33% (95% CI [19%, 47%]) for urine drug testing, 48% (95% CI [26%, 71%]) for consultation with drug monitoring program, 57% (95% CI [35%, 79%]) for assessing risk of aberrant medication-taking behavior, and 61% (95% CI [35%, 87%]) for mental health screening. Chart review data indicated that the proportion of patients with documentation was 40% (95% CI [29, 51]) for treatment agreements, 41% (95% CI [32%, 50%]) for urine drug testing, 40% (95% CI [2%, 78%]) for consultation with drug monitoring program, 41% (95% CI [20%, 64%]) for assessing risk of aberrant medication-taking behavior, and 22% (95% CI [9%, 33%]) for mental health screening. Year of publication, practice guideline referenced, and risk of bias explained significant heterogeneity. No study evaluated whether nonadherence to recommendations reflected well-justified deviations to care.

Conclusions: Adherence to guideline recommendations for opioids for CNCP is low. It is unclear whether nonadherence reflects thoughtful deviations in care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).