New opioid use high among older adults with COPD

Canadian researchers have documented a disturbing trend of new opioid use—and, potentially, overuse—among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) living in elder care settings. From 2003–12, they tracked 107,109 community-dwelling residents and 16,207 long-term-care residents with the respiratory condition. More than 68% of the former and more than 54% of the latter were given an incident opioid drug over study time frame.