A Novel Chronic Opioid Monitoring Tool to Assess Prescription Drug Steady State Levels in Oral Fluid.

Objective: Interpretation limitations of urine drug testing and the invasiveness of blood toxicology have motivated the desire for the development of simpler methods to assess biologically active drug levels on an individualized patient basis. Oral fluid is a matrix well-suited for the challenge because collections are based on simple noninvasive procedures and drug concentrations better correlate to blood drug levels as oral fluid is a filtrate of the blood. Well-established pharmacokinetic models were utilized to generate oral fluid steady state concentration ranges to assess the interpretive value of the alternative matrix to monitor steady state plasma oxycodone levels.

Assessment of the use of oral fluid as a matrix for drug monitoring in patients undergoing treatment for opioid addiction.

Drug testing is an important clinical tool that is available to physicians who are assessing the effectiveness of drug treatment as well as patient compliance to the administered program. While urine has traditionally been the matrix of choice for drug monitoring, oral fluid, a filtrate of the blood, has shown great promise as an alternative matrix for such applications. Oral fluid collection can be accomplished without the need for highly trained medical staff through the use of a simple, noninvasive oral fluid collection device, which obtains an adequate sample in only a few minutes.

Impact of animal-assisted therapy for outpatients with fibromyalgia.

Objectives: Animal-assisted therapy using dogs trained to be calm and provide comfort to strangers has been used as a complementary therapy for a range of medical conditions. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of brief therapy dog visits for fibromyalgia patients attending a tertiary outpatient pain management facility compared with time spent in a waiting room.

Design: Open label with waiting room control.

Animal-assisted therapy at an outpatient pain management clinic.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of brief therapy dog visits to an outpatient pain management facility compared with time spent in a waiting room.

Design: The design of this study is open-label. Setting.

Evolution of coauthorship in public health services and systems research.

Context: Public health services and systems research (PHSSR) focuses on the structure, organization, and legal basis of domestic public health activities and their effect on population health. An accurate description of the field is needed to empower funding agencies and other stakeholders to coordinate PHSSR activities and to foster the development of the field. The purpose of the study is to characterize the emerging community of researchers engaged in PHSSR.

A study of AVINZA (morphine sulfate extended-release capsules) for chronic moderate-to-severe noncancer pain conducted under real-world treatment conditions--the ACCPT Study.

This study evaluated the clinical effects and pattern of use of AVINZA((r)), morphine sulfate extended-release tablets, under real-world treatment conditions. Opioid-naive subjects or subjects who have failed other opioids were eligible if they had chronic moderate-to-severe noncancer pain with an average pain score > or =4 (0-10 scale) in the preceding month. Subjects answered in-depth monthly questionnaires in three months.