2018
Racial disparities in discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy following illicit drug use among black and white patients
Gaither JR, Gordon K, Crystal S, Edelman EJ, Kerns RD, Justice AC, Fiellin DA, Becker WC. Racial disparities in discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy following illicit drug use among black and white patients. Drug And Alcohol Dependence 2018, 192: 371-376. PMID: 30122319, PMCID: PMC7106601, DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.05.033.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsLong-term opioid therapyIllicit drug useUrine drug testsDrug useOpioid therapyWhite racePositive urine drug testDrug testsMonths of treatmentElectronic medical recordsWhite patientsChronic painPatient raceMedical recordsPatientsLogistic regressionOpioidsRacial disparitiesDrug testingCocaineCannabisTherapyCliniciansDiscontinuationPain
2014
Racial Differences in Prescription of Opioid Analgesics for Chronic Noncancer Pain in a National Sample of Veterans
Burgess DJ, Nelson DB, Gravely AA, Bair MJ, Kerns RD, Higgins DM, van Ryn M, Farmer M, Partin MR. Racial Differences in Prescription of Opioid Analgesics for Chronic Noncancer Pain in a National Sample of Veterans. Journal Of Pain 2014, 15: 447-455. PMID: 24440840, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2013.12.010.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsChronic noncancer painPain intensity ratingsPrescription of opioidsNoncancer painOpioid prescriptionsRacial differencesVeterans Affairs Health Care SystemIntensity ratingsElectronic medical record dataRetrospective cohort studyPain intensity scoresPrimary care patientsMedical record dataYears of agePossible racial differencesHealth care facilitiesSignificant racial differencesSystem-level factorsHealth care systemPatients 65Cohort studyJoint painPatient ageCare patientsOpioid analgesics