Journal of opioid management
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Multicenter Study
Assessment, stratification, and monitoring of the risk for prescription opioid misuse and abuse in the primary care setting.
To evaluate potential for and incidence of aberrant drug-related behaviors among patients with chronic, moderate-to-severe pain in a primary care setting and to determine investigator compliance with universal precautions (UP) approach to pain management. ⋯ Most patients in these primary care study centers were categorized as at least moderate risk for opioid misuse/abuse at baseline. Most primary care investigators complied with the UP approach to pain management and risk assessment. The completion of the brief training and clinical use of the tools during the study led to retained behavior change, but there was a tendency for investigators to assign lower risk levels than those that were protocol-specified, suggesting a need for better understanding of factors influencing investigator decisions.