Module 5: Monitoring and Evaluation

Lesson 2

Aberrant drug-related behaviour

What are aberrant drug-related behaviours?

Aberrant drug-related behaviours may indicate prescription medications misuse. Such behaviours may include:

• Multiple unsanctioned escalations in the dose or inaccurate pill counts (too few pills or too many pills)
• Alterations in the route of delivery (e.g., biting, crushing controlled release tablets, snorting or injecting oral tablets)
• Engaging in illegal activities
• Episodes of lost or stolen prescriptions
• Frequent visits to emergency rooms or urgent care centres
• Excessive phone calls to clinics
• Concerns expressed by a family member/caregiver about the patient’s use of opioids
• Unanticipated positive results or negative of random urine drug screening (UDS)