Opioids
Narcotics, or opioids, are often used to treat pain, including pain associated with work injuries. Yet, abuse of these painkillers has resulted in such a large increase in hospitalizations and deaths that the situation is called an “opioid epidemic.” IWH research looks at optimal opioid prescribing practices for physicians, as well as the use and effects of opioids related to the treatment of work-related injuries in particular.
Featured
At Work article
IWH study finds 7 in 10 injured workers still experience pain more than a year after injury
A high proportion of injured workers in Ontario experience persistent pain for well over a year after their work-related injury. According to an IWH study of workers' compensation lost-time claimants, 70 per cent of workers experience pain 18 months after their work injury.
Published: September 30, 2022
At Work article
IWH review outlines promising strategies to prevent prescribed opioid abuse
Since the start of the opioid crisis in the late 1990s, communities across North America have tried many different strategies to curb the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids. A new IWH systematic review identifies the most promising ones.
Published: November 2018
IWH in the media
New systematic review outlines promising strategies to prevent prescribed opioid abuse, overdoses
The opioid epidemic continues to grow unabated across swaths of North America. A new systematic review by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) now provides a comprehensive assessment of the strategies that have been tried to promote the appropriate use of opioid prescriptions, reduce their misuse and abuse, and prevent overdose deaths.
Published: OOHNA Journal, October 2018
Journal article
Journal article
Prescription dispensing patterns before and after a workers' compensation claim: an historical cohort study of workers with low back pain injuries in British Columbia
Published: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, July 2018
Journal article
Journal article
A systematic review of strategies to improve appropriate use of opioids and to reduce opioid use disorder and deaths from prescription opioids
Published: Canadian Journal of Pain, June 2018
IWH in the media
Opioids linked to longer disability leaves
A Canadian review of five studies have found a link between opioid prescriptions and longer duration of time on disability, writes Sarah Dobson, who interviews Dr. Nancy Carnide and Dr. Andrea Furlan, among others, about implications of this IWH study.
Published: Canadian HR Reporter, June 2018
IWH in the media
100 million Americans have chronic pain. Very few use one of the best tools to treat it.
The pain system is "like an alarm system for your house." It can break; it can malfunction, says Dr. Andrea Furlan in this article exploring treatment options for chronic pain that has no biological cause.
Published: Vox, May 2018
At Work article
Studies consistent in finding a link between opioids for MSDs and longer work disability
A systematic review on early opioid prescription for MSDs and work disability finds a consistent link with longer work disability. However, review authors urge caution in drawing a conclusion about cause and effect.
Published: February 2018
Journal article
Journal article
Response: prescription opioid use and the risk of disability
Published: Clinical Journal of Pain, January 2018
IWH in the media
The role of benefits plans in responding to the opioid crisis
What steps can benefit plan sponsors take to help reduce the opioid crisis? The Institute for Work & Health's Dr. Andrea Furlan is among those interviewed.
Published: Benefits Canada, November 2017
Journal article
Journal article
Response to "Role of regulators in safe prescribing of opioids"
Published: CMAJ, September 2017