LAS VEGAS -- About half of the responders to a small online survey said they didn't know what an NSAID was, nor did they know why they are used.

Overall, 47% of survey respondents, as well as 40% of those who said they had taken pain medication in the last 12 months, said that said they did not know what NSAIDs were, reported Bill McCarberg, MD, of University of California at San Diego, and colleagues in a poster presentation at Pain Week.

In addition, more than a quarter said that they were not aware of the FDA recommendations regarding NSAID use (the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration).

The authors wrote that the survey results were particularly interesting in light of the FDA's recent strengthened warning about the increased risk of cardiovascular thrombotic events associated with NSAID use. Co-author Brett Snodgrass, APRN, of LifeLinc Pain Center in Memphis, said that their results indicated that patients don't discuss over-the-counter pain medication use because they don't think it's important.

"We are prescribing NSAIDs and they are taking things where they don't even know the risk," she said. "We need to be talking to this, we need to be having these conversations with our patients."



The researchers said findings emerged from a demographically representative sample of 1,056 U.S. adults ages 18-64, including 515 respondents who reported having pain more than twice a week or pain due to surgery). More than three-quarters of the sample reported experiencing pain at any time, with 44% experiencing acute pain, 23% experiencing recurrent pain and 16% experiencing chronic pain.

Although 61% of all respondents said they used over-the-counter pain medications most frequently to manage their pain, when given a list of pain relievers, a good portion of patients failed to identify several of those that were NSAIDs or contained NSAID ingredients -- including Excedrin, Advil, and Aleve.

"Often times, when we talk about NSAIDs, our patients don't know what we're talking about," said Snodgrass. "Maybe we should change our wording."

More than half of respondents said that they did realize there was a "risk" associated with NSAIDs, but they were unaware of low-dose options for these drugs. In fact, a third of respondents said that they believed they needed a high-dose treatment option for their pain.

The researchers said the survey served an educational purpose as 58% of respondents who defined themselves as NSAID or over-the-counter pain medication users said that after learning about FDA recommendations, they were going to speak with their doctor about pain medications.

"This underscores the need for patient education regarding the safe use of NSAIDs," the authors concluded.