Linked Life Data

19663620

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/19663620

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-8-11
pubmed:abstractText
Chronic opioid treatment is a highly effective method to treat chronic pain; however, the prevalence of abuse of opioids can make treating patients with these agents difficult for clinicians. The objective of this study was to describe rates of inappropriate utilization, abuse, and diversion in a population of patients who were prescribed chronic opioids, as measured by urine drug testing in the clinical setting. A retrospective analysis was conducted of results from all urine drug tests conducted by Ameritox, Ltd. between January 2006 and January 2009, for patients whose physicians ordered the test in order to screen for noncompliance. Data from 938,586 patient test samples showed that 75% of patients were unlikely to be taking their medications in a manner consistent with their prescribed pain regimen. Thirty-eight percent of patients were found to have no detectable level of their prescribed medication, 29% had a nonprescribed medication present, 27% had a drug level higher than expected, 15% had a drug level lower than expected, and 11% had illicit drugs detected in their urine. Note that all categories add to a total greater than 100% as each category is not mutually exclusive, and a single patient could fall into multiple categories. The high observed rate of noncompliance demonstrates a significant clinical concern and confirms the importance of periodic urine drug screening for the population prescribed long-term opioid therapy.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
1942-7905
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
12
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
185-90
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
High rates of inappropriate drug use in the chronic pain population.
pubmed:affiliation
Jefferson School of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University, 1015 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. joseph.couto@jefferson.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't