We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.
Defining Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioids Within Health Care Claims: A Systematic Review
Gerald Cochran, Bongki Woo, Wei-Hsuan Lo-Ciganic, Adam J. Gordon, Julie M. Donohue, Walid F. Gellad
Substance Abuse
Vol. 36, Iss. 2, 2015
Health insurance claims data may play an important role for healthcare systems and payers in monitoring the non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMPO) among patients. We conducted a systematic review of publications that defined and measured NMPO within health insurance claims databases in order to describe definitions of NMPO and identify areas for improvement. Findings showed substantial variation in: conceptual and operational definitions of NMPO, efforts to validate these definitions, and rates of NMPO. Future research should prospectively test and validate a construct of NMPO to disseminate to payers and health officials.