The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Review
Using Screening Tests to Predict Aberrant Use of Opioids in Chronic Pain Patients: Caveat Emptor.
Screening tests represent a critical tool in chronic pain treatment for predicting aberrant opioid use, which has emerged as a significant public health issue. Nevertheless, there remains a significant potential for the misapplication of screeners in this context. The potential difficulties in evaluating the diagnostic efficiency of screeners have been well established, particularly with regard to the effect that the prevalence of a disorder has on predictive value. ⋯ Given the prevalence of opioid problems, however, formulating clear clinical guidelines on such screeners appears highly important. The aims of the present report include: 1) providing a review of the salient issues necessary for interpreting diagnostic efficiency statistics of screening tests, 2) identifying the critical differences between sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value, and 3) discussing the characteristic effects that disease prevalence has on statistical prediction. The article also reviews key processes in screening measure development and highlights several key considerations relevant to their appropriate use in clinical decision-making.