Alcohol Use Disorder in People living with Chronic pain
| Key things to know | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|
| How common is it? | Not established AUD-specific pooled prevalence |
| Is it more common among people living with chronic pain? | Pain and alcohol use have a complex bidirectional relationship |
| Are people living with chronic pain at higher risk? | Strong contextual association |
| How much higher is the risk? | No clean AUD RR; alcohol consumption ↔ chronic pain relationship is complex |
| How often can it be missed? | Very High |
| Does it show up differently among people living with chronic pain? | Strong Yes |
| How might it look different? | Alcohol may be used for temporary pain relief/sleep; pain may also worsen during withdrawal/heavy use |
| What commonly occurs alongside it? | Depression; anxiety; opioid/other SUD |
| What can it be confused with? | Opioid use disorder; medication misuse; pain-related insomnia |
| Common screening tool | AUDIT |
| Separate screening tool for people living with chronic pain | None |
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