The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS)
Abstract
The clinical opiate withdrawal scale (COWS) is a clinician-administered, pen and paper instrument that rates eleven common opiate withdrawal signs or symptoms. The summed score of the eleven items can be used to assess a patient's level of opiate withdrawal and to make inferences about their level of physical dependence on opioids. With increasing use of opioids for treatment of pain and the availability of sublingual buprenorphine in the United States for treatment of opioid dependence, clinical assessment of opiate withdrawal intensity has received renewed interest. Buprenorphine, a partial opiate agonist at the mu receptor, can precipitate opiate withdrawal in patients with a high level of opioid dependence who are not experiencing opioid withdrawal. Since development of the first opiate withdrawal scale in the mid-1930s, many different opioid withdrawal scales have been used in clinical and research settings. This article reviews the history of opiate withdrawal scales and the context of their initial use. A template version of the COWS that can be copied and used clinically is appended. PDF formatted versions of the COWS are also available from the websites of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the California Society of Addiction Medicine, the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, and AlcoholMD.com.
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Cites
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The development of a short opiate withdrawal scale (SOWS)
Gossop, M. (1990) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/0306-4603(90)90036-w · Cited by 261
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Diseases of the Nervous System
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Cited by
Strang, J., Volkow, N. D., Degenhardt, L., Hickman, M., Johnson, K., Koob, G. F., Marshall, B. D. L., Tyndall, M., & Walsh, S. L. (2020) · Nature Reviews Disease Primers · doi:10.1038/s41572-019-0137-5 · Cited by 639
Treatment of opioid-use disorders
Schuckit, M. A. (2016) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmra1604339 · Cited by 540
Guidelines for the psychosocially assisted pharmacological treatment of opioid dependence
Uchtenhagen, A. (2009) · Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) · doi:10.5167/uzh-17408 · Cited by 490
The ASAM National Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: 2020 Focused Update
(2020) · Journal of Addiction Medicine · doi:10.1097/adm.0000000000000633 · Cited by 412
Back, S. E., Payne, R. L., Wahlquist, A. H., Carter, R. E., Stroud, Z., Haynes, L., Hillhouse, M., Brady, K. T., & Ling, W. (2011) · The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse · doi:10.3109/00952990.2011.596982 · Cited by 277
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Wesson, D. R., & Ling, W.
- Venue
- Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2003-06-01
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 253-259
- ISSN
- 0279-1072 (ISSN-L)
- 2159-9777
- OpenAlex
- W2018914766
- Cited by
- 1,120
- References
- 10
- FWCI
- 7.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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