Are Opioids Agitating? A Data Analysis of Baseline Data from the STAN Study

Myriam Lesage; Karin Cinalioglu; Sabrina Chan; Sanjeev Kumar; Tarek Rajji; Ashley Melichercik; Carmen Desjardins; Jess Friedland; Amer Burhan; Sarah Colman; Li Chu; Simon Davies; Peter Derkach; Sarah Elmi; Philip Gerretsen; Ariel Graff-Guerrero; Maria Hussain; Zahinoor Ismail; Donna Kim; Linda Krisman; Rola Moghabghab; Benoit H Mulsant; Bruce G Pollock; Aviva Rostas; Lisa Van Bussel; StaN Study Group; Soham Rej

doi:10.3233/ADR-240025

Are Opioids Agitating? A Data Analysis of Baseline Data from the STAN Study

J Alzheimers Dis Rep. 2024 Sep 27;8(1):1297-1300. doi: 10.3233/ADR-240025. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Myriam Lesage^{1

2}, Karin Cinalioglu^{3

2}, Sabrina Chan^{3

2}, Sanjeev Kumar^{4

5}, Tarek Rajji^{4

5

6}, Ashley Melichercik⁴, Carmen Desjardins⁷, Jess Friedland^{3

7}, Amer Burhan^{5

8

9}, Sarah Colman^{4

5}, Li Chu^{4

5}, Simon Davies^{4

5}, Peter Derkach¹⁰, Sarah Elmi⁹, Philip Gerretsen^{4

5}, Ariel Graff-Guerrero^{4

5}, Maria Hussain¹¹, Zahinoor Ismail⁶, Donna Kim^{4

5}, Linda Krisman⁴, Rola Moghabghab^{4

5}, Benoit H Mulsant^{4

5}, Bruce G Pollock^{4

5}, Aviva Rostas^{4

5}, Lisa Van Bussel⁸; StaN Study Group; Soham Rej^{3

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Education, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, Jewish General Hospital/Lady Davis Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.
³ Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁴ Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
⁹ Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Agitation, a common dementia symptom often arising from untreated pain, lacks comprehensive research on its connection with opioids prescribed for long-term pain. This study investigated the relationship between opioid use and agitation in dementia patients. Participants (n = 188) were categorized into opioid, acetaminophen PRN, or no-pain medication groups. Despite higher reported pain levels in the opioid group, no significant differences in agitation were observed among the groups. In conclusion, opioid use for pain management in older adults with dementia did not significantly impact agitation, emphasizing the ongoing importance of proper pain management in improving dementia care and addressing agitation in this population.

Keywords: Agitation; Alzheimer’s disease; dementia; opioid; pain management.