The Association of Quality of Life With Opiate Use in Chronic Pancreatitis Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic pancreatitis remains a difficult disease to treat and pain control remains a mainstay of treatment. While improving pain control has been associated with an improved quality of life, the relationship between narcotic use and quality of life remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine this relationship between narcotic use and quality of life utilizing the PANQOLI, a validated questionnaire specifically designed to capture a holistic view of quality of life in chronic pancreatitis patients. Methods: Patients with chronic pancreatitis previously diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound who regularly receive their care at our institution were recruited for this study. Patients were given the PANQOLI and had demographic information collected, including their daily opiate use. Results: 51 patients with chronic pancreatitis participated in this study. The average age was 48.6 and females constituted 62.75% of the population. In terms of racial distribution, 84.31% of the population was Caucasian. Noticeably, there was a high unemployment rate (49.0%), disability rate (21.6%) and unmarried rate (62.8%). See Table 1. Linear regression between PANQOLI scores and the amount of narcotics was performed and showed no significant correlation (F = 0.36).Table 1: Demographic data of patients with chronic pancreatitisConclusion: There was no association between quality of life and opiate use in this chronic pancreatitis population. This study demonstrates that increased narcotic use does not translate to improved quality of life. It may be possible that the quality of life in patients with chronic pancreatitis may be driven by malnutrition, disability, unemployment, or divorce rate. More studies are needed to determine the most powerful driving factors of the patient's quality of life.Figure 1