Prescription Drugs: Abuse and Addiction

Healthcare providers have long wrestled with how best to treat patients who suffer from chronic pain, roughly 116 million in this country. Their dilemma stems from the potential risks involved with long-term treatment, such as the development of drug tolerance (and the need for escalating doses), hyperalgesia (increased pain sensitivity), and addiction. Patients themselves may even be reluctant to take an opioid medication prescribed to them for fear of becoming addicted. Estimates of addiction among chronic pain patients vary widely?from about 3 percent to 40 percent. This variability is the result of differences in treatment duration, insufficient research on long-term outcomes, and disparate study populations and measures used to assess abuse or addiction.

To mitigate addiction risk, physicians should screen patients for potential risk factors, including personal or family history of drug abuse or mental illness. Monitoring patients for signs of abuse is also crucial, and yet some indicators can signify multiple conditions, making accurate assessment challenging. Early or frequent requests for prescription pain medication refills, for example, could represent illness progression, the development of drug tolerance, or the emergence of a drug problem.

The development of effective, nonaddicting pain medications is a public health priority. A growing elderly population and an increasing number of injured military only add to the urgency of this issue. Researchers are exploring alternative medications that can alleviate pain but have less abuse potential. More research is needed to better understand effective chronic pain management, including identifying factors that predispose some patients to addiction and developing measures to prevent abuse.