Laxative co-medication and changes in defecation patterns during opioid use.

Introduction: Opioid-induced constipation is a clinically relevant side effect and a cause of potentially avoidable drug-related hospital admissions.

Objectives: To describe the presence of laxative co-medication, the reasons for not starting laxatives and to evaluate changes in stool patterns of opioid initiators.

Methods: In this observational study community pharmacists evaluated the availability of laxative co-medication in starting opioid users and registered reasons for non-use.