ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the diagnosis of opioid use disorders and helps readers understand the risk factors, appropriate use of opioids, misuse, and ultimately opioid addiction. Most opioid misuse begins with prescribed opioids for pain relief, and because there has been a corresponding rise in the prescribing of opioid medications, there is a corresponding rise in emergency department visits for opioid overdoses and in the incidence of opioid use disorders. Historically, the use of opioids such as morphine to treat acute pain has been a vital component of pain management. The advent of the longer-acting opioids was popular because it allowed patients to experience a full night’s sleep or complete a full eight-hour workday, and it was thought that longer-acting opioids posed a reduced risk of addiction. Clinicians can more effectively monitor patients on chronic opioid treatment using rating instruments that can predict patients at risk for opioid use disorders.
