Study of Opioid Use After Lumbar and Cervical Spine Surgery
Condition: Low Back Pain; Opiate Addiction; Neck Pain
MeSH terms: Back Pain; Low Back Pain; Neck Pain; Opioid-Related Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this project is to assess the impact of an educational video on the use of
      prescription opioid medication during a 6-month period following spine surgery. Subjects will
      be recruited from the pool of patients coming in for the pre-operative appointment prior to
      spine surgery. Patients that consent and enroll will be randomized to receive either a brief
      educational video at this appointment or usual care. Patients will be followed after surgery
      weekly for the first month, and then again at 6 months to determine their prescription opioid
      medication utilization patterns. Prescription data will also be pulled from electronic
      medical records.
    

Detailed description: 
      After consenting, meeting inclusion criteria, and enrollment, all participants will complete
      several standard self-report questionnaires related to medical history, social demographic,
      and psychosocial variables that are related to low back pain, and often used in clinics that
      manage patients with low back pain. They will then be randomized to either receive the
      education, or only usual care (which is the typical information the surgeon provides the
      patient verbally during the pre-operative appointment). All patients will receive the usual
      care education from their surgeon.

      Education Group:

      The educational video is a white board style patient-centric video. The content of the
      education focus on providing a historical perspective for opioid prescription from the time
      when the risk of dependence was highly underestimated. The video discusses the current
      evidence for the effect of opioid medications in non-cancer on-acute pain. It also discusses
      some of the dangers of long-term opioid usage.

      All Subjects:

      All subjects will receive the usual care education that is typically given by their surgeon.
      That will be left up to the discretion of each surgeon.

      All patients will proceed with the surgical procedure as planned. Each week during the
      1-month period after the surgery, patients will be contacted, and then again at 6 months to
      ask history of prescription opioid utilization.
    

Intervention name(s): Educational Video
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The content of the education focus on providing a historical perspective for opioid prescription from the time when the risk of dependence was highly underestimated. The video discusses the current evidence for the effect of opioid medications in non-cancer non-acute pain. It also discusses some of the dangers of long-term opioid usage. The video is 11 and ½ minutes long.
Other intervention name(s): Best Advice for People Taking Opioid Medication
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: patient education; low back pain; post-surgical pain; chronic opioid use; Neck Pain