title: Assessing craving and its relationship to subsequent prescription opioid use among treatment-seeking prescription opioid dependent patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Craving is viewed as a core feature of substance use disorders and has been shown to predict future drug use, particularly over the short term. Accordingly, craving is often assessed in treatment settings as a marker of risk for subsequent drug use. The identification of the briefest measure that maintains predictive validity is of particular value for both clinical and research settings to minimize assessment burden while maintaining utility for the prediction of use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from a multi-site clinical trial of treatment for prescription opioid dependence were examined to evaluate whether a brief, 3-item craving scale administered each week predicted urine-confirmed self report of prescription opioid use in the subsequent week. Logistic regression models examining the association between craving and presence or absence of opioid use in the following week were conducted, controlling for opioid use in the previous week, treatment condition, and lifetime history of heroin use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Greater craving was associated with a higher odds of prescription opioid use in the following week. For each one-unit increase on this 10-point scale, the odds of using opioids in the subsequent week was 17% higher. In addition to an item assessing urges, items assessing cue-induced craving and perceived likelihood of relapse in an environment where drugs were previously used contributed uniquely to this association.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A brief measure of prescription opioid craving predicted prescription opioid use among individuals in treatment. This measure offers an efficient strategy to inform the assessment of risk for use in this population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: kmchugh@mclean.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: R Kathryn
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Laboratory for Psychiatric Biostatistics, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA.
authors.forename: Garrett M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fitzmaurice
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 950 Campbell Ave, MIRECC 151D, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.affiliation: Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Griffin
authors.affiliation: Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 5750 Centre Avenue, Suite 400, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.
authors.forename: Ajay D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Wasan
authors.affiliation: Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Roger D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D066249:Craving; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D005260:Female; D003932:Heroin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D057566:Self Report; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D003932:Heroin
keywords: Buprenorphine; Craving; Cue-induced craving; Prescription opioids