Epilepsy Patients Have Higher Rate of Opioid Use, Pain

Individuals with epilepsy had insurance claims for opioid prescriptions and diagnoses of painful conditions that were substantially more common than in a control group of nonepileptic patients, according to a database study reported here.

Among 10,271 health plan members with a diagnosis of epilepsy in 2012, 26% had received an opioid prescription versus 18% of 20,542 members of the same plans matched for gender, age range, and insurance type (P<0.001), said Andrew Wilner, MD, of Angels Neurological Centers in Abington, Mass.

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