Opiate and Benzodiazepine Use during Hospitalization for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Is Associated with Adverse Health Related Outcomes

• Published in: Blood 2018-11, Vol.132 (Supplement 1), p.5873-5873
• Main Authors: Iqbal, Madiha, Spaulding, Aaron C., Ahmed, Salman, Jani, Prachi, Wood, Chanel, Niazi, Shehzad, Manochakian, Rami, Paulus, Aneel, Ayala, Ernesto, Kharfan-Dabaja, Mohamed A, Roy, Vivek, Chanan-Khan, Asher A., Ailawadhi, Sikander, Sher, Taimur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood-2018-99-119781

▪ INTRODUCTION: Significant burden of pain syndromes are reported in patients with hematological malignancies undergoing HSCT mostly due to underlying disease and associated treatments. Opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines are routinely used for symptomatic management in this patient population. The use of narcotic analgesics and benzodiazepines in non-transplant hospitalized patients has been shown to adversely affect health related outcomes such as length-of-stay (LOS), falls and other complications. However, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the patterns of opioid and benzodiazepine use and their impact on health outcomes in HSCT patients. METHODS: We identified 275 patients from the year 2015-2018 who underwent HSCT (allogeneic and autologous transplants) at our center for a variety of hematological malignancies. Opioid exposure was defined in three groups of patients 1) Opioid naïve: those did not report prior use of opioid at admission and who were not prescribed opioid during hospitalization, 2) Previous Opioid users: those who reported active use of opioid at admission and continued during hospitalization 3) New Opioid users: Patients who did not report opioid use at admission but were prescribed opioid during hospitalization. Multivariable analysis was performed to identify differences in opioid status, opioid use, benzodiazepine use, disease diagnosis, Karnofsky score, gender, age, race, and marital status with associated complications (Poisson regression), emergency department visits (Logistic Regression) and length of stay (Ordinal Logistic Regression) Figure 1 and Figure 2. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 59 (range: 25-74 ) years with slight male predominance (57%). Patients undergoing autologous transplants for multiple myeloma (MM) comprised 48% of the population. The majority (72 %) were exposed to opioid during hospitalization. Ninety two percent of the opioid naïve population (28% of the total population) underwent autologous transplant. Conversely, 36% of patients undergoing autologous transplants never received opiates during hospitalization as compared to 7% of those who received an allogeneic transplant. Median morphine milligram equivalent daily dose was 3.1 mg. Median diazepam equivalent daily dosage in patients that were opiate exposed was 2.07 milligram. Of the total transplant population, 55% received benzodiazepine concurrently with opiates during hospitalization. 76 % of the population was exposed to both