Addiction, Author Interviews, Cocaine, Opiods, Primary Care / 03.01.2019
Urine Tests Useful in Primary Care Monitoring of Opioid and Cocaine Use
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Sarah M. Bagley MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
Director, CATALYST Clinic
Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center
Boston, MA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Urine drug testing is a routine part of the management of primary care patients with opioid use disorder treated with medications such as buprenorphine. In addition, most providers also ask patients about recent drug use.
The point of this study was to see the agreement between the urine drug testing and what patients told a nurse and whether that changed the longer a patient was in treatment. We found that truthful disclosure of opioid and cocaine use increased with time in treatment and that urine drug tests are a useful tool to monitor patients.
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