Care for Patients with Chronic Nonmalignant Pain with and without Chronic Opioid Prescriptions: A Report from the Cincinnati Area Research Group (CARinG) Network

Article Figures & Data

Table 1. Participating Practices in the Cincinnati Area Research Group (CARinG) Network

Site	Participating Physicians in Practice (n = 21)	Total Physicians in Practice (n = 30)	Electronic Medical Record	Geographic Location	Type of Practice	PRINS-2 Surveys Completed (N = 533)
1	4	7	Yes	Suburban	University affiliated	98
2	4	5	Yes	Rural	Residency	104
3	2	2	Yes	Suburban	University affiliated	46
4	2	3	Yes	Urban	Local hospital affiliated	40
5	1	1	No	Suburban	Local hospital affiliated	28
6	3	5	Yes	Suburban	Residency	78
7	4	6	No	Urban	Federally qualified health center	110
8	1	1	No	Suburban	Independent	29

Table 2. Demographics of Participating Family Physicians and Medical Assistants

Demographics	Physicians Completing PRINS-2 (N = 21)	Physicians Interviewed^* (N = 10)	Medical Assistants/Nurses^{^†} Interviewed (N = 10)
Mean age (years)	46	44	37
Sex
Female	38	30	100
Male	62	70	0
Race
White	80	70	70
African American	5	10	30
Asian American	15	20	0

Values provided as percentages unless otherwise indicated.
↵* Subset of 21 completing survey.
↵† There were 8 medical assistants, 1 registered nurse and 1 licensed practical nurse.
PRINS-2, Primary Care Network Survey 2.

Table 3. Comparison of Patients with Chronic Nonmalignant Pain by Chronic Opioid Use

Patient Factor	Chronic Opioids (N = 65)	No Chronic Opioids (N = 72)	P
Mean age of patient (years)	54.2	58.7	.003
Mean length of index office visit (min)	17.9 minutes	19.1 minute	.021
Patient sex (female)	55	57	NS
Patient race			NS
White	76	80
African American	24	20
Patients with a mental health diagnosis	69	44	.005
Patients with ≥3 types of pain	26	13	.04

Table 4. Assessment and Management of Patients Taking and Not Taking Opioids

	Chronic Opioids (N = 65)	No Chronic Opioids (N = 72)	P
Level/amount of pain severity	77	60	.031
Level/amount of functional disability due to pain	54	29	.003
Level/amount of psychological distress (depression, anxiety, insomnia, etc) due to pain	48	18	<.001
Presence of a second opinion from a specialist (other than a pain specialist) to help diagnose etiology of the pain or assist with diagnosis or management	66	38	.001
Presence of a second opinion from a pain specialist to help diagnose etiology of the pain or assist with management	34	10	.001
Presence of current and/or past use of physical modalities, such as physical therapy	40	39	NS