Patient-Reported Utilization Patterns of Fentanyl Transdermal System and Oxycodone Hydrochloride Controlled-Release Among Patients With Chronic Nonmalignant Pain

Dear Editor, We are writing to discuss the paper entitled Patient-Reported Utilization Patterns of Fentanyl Transdermal System and Oxycodone Hydrochloride Controlled-Release Among Patients With Chronic Nonmalignant Pain' in the May/June 2003 issue of the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy. We credit the authors in their task of collecting information on chronic pain patients via survey method, as this type of study in chronic nonmalignant pain patients has never been conducted. The results, although intriguing, were based on a single survey with no follow-up survey assessments. It is interesting to note that the only values that were significant in the multivariate analyses were gender (more females in the fentanyl transdermal system group) and duration on medication (those taking oxycodone hydrochloride controlled-release were taking the medication longer than those on the fentanyl transdermal system). We have several questions and comments that we would like the authors to address in order to provide the readers with a more complete understanding of the