Screening in Trauma for Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOMP): Results from a prospective cohort of victims of traumatic injury

Background: Traumatic injury frequently requires opioid analgesia to manage pain and avoid catastrophic complications. Risk screening for opioid misuse and the development of use disorder remains uninvestigated.

Methods: Participants were Trauma/Orthopedic Surgical Services patients at a Level I Trauma Center who were English speaking, aged 18-75, received an opioids prescription at discharge, and were under control of their own medications at discharge. Baseline measures included validated self-report instruments for psychosocial factors, such as anxiety, depression, pain coping, and social support. Health record data included diagnosis codes, procedures, Injury Severity Score, and pain severity (0-10 scale). Opioid use disorder (by Clinical International Diagnostic Interview-Substance Abuse Module) or opioid misuse (Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) and survey items) were assessed at 24 weeks post-discharge.

Results: 295 patients enrolled with 237 completing the 24 week assessments. Stepwise regression modeling demonstrated pre-injury PTSD symptoms, Opioid Risk score, medication use behaviors, social support, and length of stay predicted opioid misuse. Pre-injury PTSD symptoms, pain coping, and length of stay predicted use disorder. The final regression models for opioid misuse by COMM, opioid misuse via survey items, and for opioid use disorder had highly favorable areas under the receiver operating curve (0.880, 0.790, and 0.943 respectively).

Conclusions: Pre-injury presence of PTSD-related symptoms, impaired pain coping, social support, and hospitalization > 6 days predicted opioid misuse and opioid addiction at 6 months after hospital discharge. Behavioral screening and management strategies appear warranted in the population of traumatic injury victims to reduce opioid-related risks.