Opioid attentional bias and cue-elicited craving predict future risk of prescription opioid misuse among chronic pain patients

Abstract

BackgroundSome chronic pain patients receiving long-term opioid analgesic pharmacotherapy are at risk for misusing opioids. Like other addictive behaviors, risk of opioid misuse may be signaled by an attentional bias (AB) towards drug-related cues. The purpose of this study was to examine opioid AB as a potential predictor of opioid misuse among chronic pain patients following behavioral treatment. MethodsChronic pain patients taking long-term opioid analgesics (n=47) completed a dot probe task designed to assess opioid AB, as well as self-report measures of opioid misuse and pain severity, and then participated in behavioral treatment. Regression analyses examined opioid AB and cue-elicited craving as predictors of opioid misuse at 3-month posttreatment follow-up. ResultsPatients who scored high on a measure of opioid misuse risk following treatment exhibited significantly greater opioid AB scores than patients at low risk for opioid misuse. Opioid AB for 200ms cues and cue-elicited craving significantly predicted opioid misuse risk 20 weeks later, even after controlling for pre-treatment opioid dependence diagnosis, opioid misuse, and pain severity (Model R2=.50). ConclusionBiased initial attentional orienting to prescription opioid cues and cue-elicited craving may reliably signal future opioid misuse risk following treatment. These measures may therefore provide potential prognostic indicators of treatment outcome.