In hospice, opioid prescriptions are often combined with antipsychotics and/or anxiolytics. It may be appropriate to make this question about more than opioids alone. 14 Combining Opioids, Antipsychotics, and/or Anxiolytics is Associated with Improved Survival in Hospice 14-20 In fact, in hospice, increasing opioid dosage to the amount needed for pain control has been associated with a 54% greater survival time. A growing body of research now demonstrates that even the high doses of opioids needed to control pain for dying patients do not bear a negative impact on the survival of hospice patients with advanced illness. They tend to experience severe pain that needs prompt management, and they already have a life expectancy of six months or less. Hospice patients, on the other hand, are different. 14-20 High Doses of Opioids Correlate with Improved Survival Among Hospice PatientsĪmong patients who have a longer life expectancy, opioid prescriptions come with a higher mortality risk. 13,14 To the contrary, the data suggests that opioids are not harmful in hospice cases and may even be associated with longer survival. Some raise concerns that opioids may hasten death among hospice patients, and these concerns may result in restricted use of opioids during end-of-life care. Effective symptom control is a large part of this mission, and opioids are commonly used in hospice to manage severe pain and painful breathing. Hospice works to maximize quality of life during a very important time of life. 1-12 Of course, the goal of hospice is neither to shorten nor prolong life. It is well established that hospice correlates with survival improved by days to months among the subset of patients who meet admission criteria.
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