Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Analyzing medication data for research purposes is complex, and methods are rarely described in the literature. Our objective was to describe methods of quantifying opioid and nonopioid analgesics and to compare the utility of five different analgesic coding methods when analyzing relationships between pain, analgesic use, and clinical outcomes. In this study, we used physical function as the outcome variable for its clinical relevance and its relationship to pain in older adults. ⋯ Analgesic medications are important variables to consider in community-based studies of older adults. We illustrate several methods of quantifying analgesic medications for research purposes. In this community-based sample, we found no advantage of complex equianalgesic coding methods over simple counts in predicting physical functioning. The results may differ depending on the research question or clinical outcome studied. Thus, methods of analyzing analgesic drug data warrant further research.
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We aimed to understand providers' experiences and preferences regarding several brief pain screening measures. ⋯ Overly complex or adaptive screening tools may include information that is ultimately not used by providers. Conversely, overly simplistic pain screening tools may omit information that helps providers understand the impact of pain on patients' lives. As pain is nuanced, complex, and subjective, all screening measures exhibit some limitations. No single pain measure serves all chronic pain patients, and specific contexts or settings may warrant additional specific items.
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The principal study objective was to investigate the pharmacokinetic characteristics and determine the absolute bioavailability and tolerability of a new sublingual (SL) buprenorphine wafer. ⋯ Buprenorphine is approved for use in pain management and opioid addiction. Sublingual administration of buprenorphine is a simple and noninvasive route of administration and has been available for many years. Improved sublingual formulations may lead to increased utilization of this useful drug for acute and chronic pain management.
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To pilot test the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of instituting a 15-pill quantity default in the electronic health record for new Schedule II opioid prescriptions. ⋯ This pilot provides initial evidence that changing default settings can increase the number of prescriptions at the default level. This low-cost and relatively simple intervention could have an impact on opioid overprescribing. However, default settings should be selected carefully to avoid unintended consequences.