Opioid Abuse
Conditions
Brief summary
The rampant prescription of opioid has in part contributed to the ongoing worldwide opioid crisis. In the United States of America, it is estimated that death from the use of opioids outnumber death from motor vehicle accident deaths by more than 40%. Consequently, many countries such as America and Canada have drawn up guidelines pertaining to safe opioid prescribing. Tramadol is often used by pain physicians to treat chronic pain. As it is a weak opioid and unscheduled in many countries, it is often considered to have a lower addiction potential compared to strong opioids. Despite this, the literature does reveal evidence of abuse, addiction and withdrawal - although the incidence of this is unclear. In this study, the investigators aim to determine the prevalence of tramadol misuse in a pain clinic population. The investigators also aim to determine the real-life compliance of physicians to guidelines provided by International regulatory bodies (CDC) and the modifiable risk factors associated with tramadol misuse.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Singapore General Hospital
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* All patients attending pain clinic in Singapore General Hospital, Seng Kang General Hospital and Changi General Hospital
Exclusion criteria
\-
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) | Baseline | The primary outcome is the prevalence of Current Opioid Misuse (defined as a COMM score of 9 or greater) in the patients included in the cross-sectional study (ie patients who are on tramadol) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) | Baseline | PHQ-9 measures depression with scores of 5-9, 10-14,15-19 and 20 or higher representing mild, moderate , moderate to severe and severe depression. PHQ-9 scores will be performed on all patients to determine the level of depression among patients prescribed tramadol. |
| General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) | Baseline | GAD-7 measures anxiety with scores of 5, 10 and 15 representing mild, moderate and severe anxiety. GAD-7 scores will be performed on all patients to determine the level of anxiety among patients prescribed tramadol. |
| Opioid Risk Tool (ORT) | Baseline | ORT measures the risk of future opioid abuse. A score of equal or less than 3 correlates with a low risk of opioid abuse. Scores of 4 to 7 indicates moderate risk and scores above 8 represents high risk.ORT scores will be performed on all patients to determine the risk of future opioid misuse among patients prescribed tramadol. |
Countries
Singapore
Contacts
Primary ContactChristopher Liu
Backup ContactDiana Chan
Outcome results
None listed