Opioid Use and Tobacco Smoking in Patients With Rheumatic Diseases

Abstract

Background: Rheumatic diseases are chronic diseases, which may be associated with severe and debilitating pain. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of tobacco and opioid use among rheumatic patients. Patients and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 1042 patients referred to a major rheumatology clinic of Kerman city, in south east of Iran, were interviewed. Patients were divided into seven groups of disease, including rheumatoid arthritis (330 persons) osteoarthritis (313 persons), systemic lupus erythematosus (149 persons), back pain (146 persons), spondyloarthropathies (62 persons), Behcet's disease (25 persons), and scleroderma (17 persons). The questionnaire consisted of demographic variables, disease-related variables (e.g. duration of disease), the severity of pain on the VAS scale and use of opioids and tobacco based on self-reporting.