# Pain Medication Prescriptions and Misuse Following Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders

> **NIH NIH R33** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2020 · $360,744

## Abstract

Abstract
There are critical links between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and pain that have been largely ignored until
recently. For example, individuals with alcohol dependence often experience physical injuries from accidents
and violence that have a lasting physical impact. Chronic alcohol use can also lead to physical conditions that
produce significant pain. Similarly, AUDs can also lead to poor adherence to medical regimens for diseases
which can result in exacerbation in pain. Finally, given that common neural circuits are impacted by chronic
pain and by alcohol dependence, alcohol dependence may lead to heightened feelings of pain, and that such
pain may lead to alcohol use for its analgesic properties. Given these linkages between AUDs and chronic
pain, it is not surprising to find significant proportions of individuals with AUD report that they experience
significant pain and are in treatment for chronic pain. The presence of chronic pain among individuals with
AUD, combined with the chronic, relapsing nature of alcohol use disorders raises the possibility that individuals
with an alcohol use disorder may seek treatment for chronic pain, receive opioid and/or benzodiazepine
prescriptions for pain, and be at risk for morbidity and mortality associated with using these medications,
particularly in conjunction with excessive alcohol use. This study proposes to integrate records from the Client
Data System of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) patient
records with New York State Medicaid records. We plan to identify approximately 214,000 Medicaid patients
with a first contact with the OASAS treatment system from 2006-2014 and merge these treatment records with
their Medicaid claims records from their initial treatment contact through 2015. In addition, we will draw a
sample three times as large of matched individuals from the Medicaid claims to serve as a comparison sample.
Hypotheses will address the extent to which individuals with a history of treatment for alcohol problems are at
increased risk for receiving prescriptions for opioids and benzodiazepine for pain and whether this is because
of an increased risk of pain diagnoses, or whether this risk remains after controlling for diagnoses. We will also
determine if alcohol treatment patients are at further risk for higher doses, longer durations, and
misuse/overdose from these substances, and whether pain diagnoses account for this risk. Moreover, the
integration of these datasets will allow us to identify factors in the existing treatment records that would identify
individuals most at risk for the excessive use and misuse of these medications. These findings will have
important clinical implications for the management of patients in primary care with an unrecognized history of
an alcohol use disorder and policy implications with respect to medical access to alcohol treatment records.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10201106
- **Project number:** 4R33AA026954-03
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** PETER L. ELKIN
- **Activity code:** R33 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $360,744
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10201106

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10201106, Pain Medication Prescriptions and Misuse Following Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders (4R33AA026954-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10201106. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*