BACKGROUND: The United States (US) has observed increasing rates of opioid use and overdose deaths since the 1990s. For patients receiving medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), clinical visits are a critical touchpoint to evaluate progress towards recovery.
OBJECTIVE: This rapid review aims to identify psychometrically validated measures of recovery used in clinical settings in the US for individuals with OUD.
METHODS: A systematic search of Embase and Health and Psychosocial Instruments databases was conducted. Inclusion criteria: peer-reviewed studies in English from 2000 to 2023 that applied recovery measures within U.S. clinical treatment settings for individuals with OUD. References were screening and data extracted using Rayyan. Identified measures were mapped to patient-centered treatment goals.
RESULTS: 19 studies met the inclusion criteria, including 37 validated measures of recovery. Measures were predominantly designed to be self-administrated. Measures fell under three domains: exclusively measuring drug use, measuring drug use and other factors, and exclusively measuring factors other than drug use. The most used measure was the Addiction Severity Index, used in 10 studies. After mapping to established patient-centered treatment goals, avoid illicit drug use (n = 14, 38%) was the construct identified most frequently across included measures.
CONCLUSION: This rapid review of OUD recovery measures found a wide range of measures used over the study period. The most used measures focused on frequency and severity of drug use. Patient-centered treatment goals were largely covered by identified measures. Self-administer design of most measures presents opportunity to leverage patient-reported outcomes in clinical settings to evaluate recovery and inform treatment plans. Future research should explore how customizable PROMs and PREMs for patients in treatment for OUD can support goal tracking, improve patient-clinician decision-making, and help patients with recovery.
Measures of recovery used in clinical settings among people with opioid use disorder: A rapid review of the literature
Addiction Science and Clinical Practice, 21 (1), 82. doi: 10.1186/s13722-026-00700-3. PMCID: PMC13711745.