CDC Recommendations

CDC Recommendation 8: Risk assessment and mitigation

Before starting and periodically during continuation of opioid therapy, clinicians should evaluate risk for opioid-related harms and discuss risk with patients. Clinicians should work with patients to incorporate into the management plan strategies to mitigate risk, including offering naloxone.

Utah Supplemental Recommendations

SCREEN FOR RISK OF OPIOID USE DISORDER

Use a validated screening tool to assess the patient’s risk of opioid use disorder prior to prescribing an opioid medication long-term for chronic pain.

Long-term use of opioid medications to treat chronic pain safely requires the commitment of adequate resources to regularly monitor and evaluate outcomes and identify occurrence of adverse consequences. The screening tool results are intended to assist the prescriber in determining whether opioid therapy is appropriate and in determining the level of monitoring appropriate for the patient’s level of risk.

Prescribers may use one of the standardized screening forms to help determine personal and family risks:

- Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) or (PHQ-9)
- Opioid Risk Tool (ORT©)
- Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain-Revised (SOAPP-R®)
- Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM®)
- Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Screening Test (ASSIST)