Methods for Monitoring Medication Use in Chronic Pain Patients
Gatchel RJ - In this article, the best methods for assessing chronic pain patients who are potentially at risk of misuse or abuse of pain reduction medications are highlighted. The author recommends that comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments of such patients should be conducted using instruments specifically developed for evaluating the potential for abuse/misuse. The Pain Medication Questionnaire is discussed as an example of one such tool. The advantages of this comprehensive assessment approach, which has been shown to be the most heuristic perspective for the evaluation and treatment of chronic pain, are reviewed. Finally, an algorithm for the ongoing evaluation of patients undergoing opioid treatment is presented. [more...]
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