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Despite recommendations by professional associations against use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with hypertension, heart failure (HF), or chronic kidney disease (CKD), some clinicians continue to prescribe these drugs for patients with musculoskeletal disorders, possibly to avoid opioids and their attendant risks. In a Canadian retrospective cohort study, researchers used a population-based healthcare claims database to identify about 2.4 million primary care visits for musculoskeletal disorders between 2012 and 2016 in ≈800,000 patients with hypertension, HF, or CKD. More than 90% of visits involved patients with hypertension.
NSAIDs were prescribed in 9.3% of visits, with wide variation among primary care phys…