2026 Eastern States Conference

Abstract 
Importance- Buprenorphine is an opioid based treatment for chronic pain that has less risk associated with abuse, addiction, and other adverse effects due to its unique pharmacologic properties. To our knowledge, there are no studies published that assess buprenorphine’s effect on Pain, Enjoyment, and General activity scores (PEG). This study aims to explore the relationship between buprenorphine initiation for chronic pain and its effect on PEG scores. 
 
Objective- To compare PEG and other scores used by our pain clinic to estimate effectiveness of buprenorphine in improving quality of life metrics related to chronic pain.  
 
Methods- Patients using buprenorphine for chronic pain were first identified using this facility’s PMOP (pain management, opioid safety, and prescription drug monitoring program) dashboard. Patients’ charts were then reviewed to ensure that they had a baseline PMOP score before starting buprenorphine for pain. Selected scores from patients’ initial PMOP data that we felt translated most to improvements in quality of life were then compared to their most recent to assess change since starting buprenorphine. Patients who only had an initial score were given another survey before assessment. Pre and post scores were recorded and subsequently analyzed using a paired t-test.   
 
Results- Our primary endpoint, change in PEG score from baseline to most recent follow-up, showed a statistically significant improvement, as did patient’s perceptions of pain as measured by our UW-CAP-2 portion of our assessment. There was no statistically significant difference between pre and post-buprenorphine scores when assessing sleep quality and self-efficacy related to pain.  
 
Conclusions- Buprenorphine shows significant improvements in quality of life measures not well defined by other studies (to our knowledge). This study lays a foundation for larger studies related to alternative pain measurement metrics related to buprenorphine and improvements in quality of life.