Title: Recommendations

Context:
All patients who take opioids chronically are at risk for OUD and overdose, but especially those who are  younger than 30 years of age. Seven studies were identified that examined age as a predictor of OUD,  respiratory/CNS depression, and/or overdose. Four of the seven studies were rated as fair quality  evidence,[59,86,88,92] while three were rated as poor quality evidence.[58,62,87] Six of the seven studies  demonstrated that age was inversely associated with the risk of OUD and overdose.[59,62,86-88,92] One  of the three low quality studies showed that older subjects had a higher HR of overdose.[58] The Work  Group’s overall confidence in the quality of the evidence was moderate.

Question: Which patients are especially at risk for OUD and overdose?

Answer: those who are  younger than 30 years of age