Misuse of, and addiction to, prescription opioid pain relievers is a growing concern, in both non-clinical samples and chronic pain patients receiving opioid analgesic therapy. Research is needed to identify which patients may be more prone to misuse or dependence on opioids in a chronic pain treatment setting. Based on literature showing the role of impulsivity in substance use disorders generally, we predicted that impulsivity may also be important to understanding which individuals may be at risk for opioid misuse when opioids are prescribed for pain. The present study examined associations between impulsivity facets and measures of prescription opioid misuse and symptoms. Four facets of impulsivity were examined: urgency, sensation seeking, lack of premeditation, and lack of perseverance. 143 patients receiving treatment for chronic pain at a regional pain clinic completed a series of questionnaires including the UPPS and measures of opioid risk and misuse. Consistent with predictions, urgency was associated with risk for future misuse (β=0.246, p<0.05), current misuse (β=0.253, p<0.01), and symptoms of current opioid use disorder (OUD; β=0.206, p<0.05). Sensation seeking was also associated with current misuse (β=0.279, p<0.01). These results suggest that identifying facets of impulsivity is important to understanding and assessing for risk of prescription opioid misuse in the context of chronic pain treatment. These data indicate that patients who react impulsively to negative mood states and cravings may be especially prone to developing aberrant use patterns when taking prescription opioids. This is the first known study to identify the role of urgency in predicting risk for OUDs in chronic pain patients.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
9
7%
Social Sciences
6
5%
Other
11
9%
Unknown
44
34%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 June 2016.
All research outputs
#19,945,185
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Addictive Behaviors
#3,498
of 4,432 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#218,356
of 313,300 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Addictive Behaviors
#53
of 78 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 18th percentile – i.e., 18% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 78 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 29th percentile – i.e., 29% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
