title: Chronic pain severity in opioid-dependent patients.
abstract: Treatment-seeking opioid-dependent patients present frequently with chronic pain (CP). This pilot study examined the feasibility and utility of a single-item rapid screening tool for identifying CP with implications for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in a sample of patients presenting for inpatient opioid detoxification (n = 110). Most respondents (91.2%) reported pain in the past week. Forty-seven (42.8%) had CP. Individuals with severe CP had significantly greater depressive symptom severity, pain-related functional interference, and were more likely to be on disability than individuals with mild to moderate CP or no CP. The relationships were supported in a multivariate model. The results suggest it is feasible and important to assess for CP severity in SUD treatment settings.
authors.affiliation: McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts 02478, USA. jennifer_potter@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: Sara J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Shiffman
authors.forename: Roger D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008483:Medical Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index