Doctors should avoid fentanyl patches and identify a treatment length when prescribing opioids for non-cancer pain, according to a new guide to help navigate the challenges in reducing opioid abuse.

Many doctors are increasingly concerned about opioid overuse and are seeking ways to cut down prescriptions of the drugs, say the authors of the new guide from Flinders University titled Responding to Pharmaceutical Opioid-Related Problems: A Resource for Prescribers.

Opioid use has more than doubled among those aged 35-44 since 2007, owing in large part to the management of persistent non-cancer pain.

“Challenges remain for doctors in terms of best ways to manage a reduction of patient’s use of prescribed opioids and manage chronic non-cancer pain,” says a statement from the authors at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders.