Opioids for chronic noncancer pain: prediction and identification of aberrant drug-related behaviors: a review of the evidence for an American Pain Society and American Academy of Pain Medicine clinical practice guideline Are there optimal methods to predict risk of aberrant drug-related behaviors before starting patients on opioids for chronic noncancer pain and to identify aberrant behaviors after therapy is initiated? To find the answer the authors systematically reviewed published literature through July 2008. Evidence on predicting and identifying aberrant drug-related behaviors is limited. Although some screening tools help, evidence is sparse, and research study methods in all the studies reviewed have shortcomings. There is no reliable evidence on the accuracy of urine drug screening, pill counts, or prescription drug monitoring programs; or on clinical outcomes associated with different assessment or monitoring strategies. More high-quality research needs to be done. Chou R, Fanciullo GJ, Fine PG, Miaskowski C, Passik SD, Portenoy RK. J Pain. 2009 Feb;10(2):131-46. Read More: View the full text (.pdf) PMID: 19187890 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed Credit: PubMed, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). BACK

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