Findings from JCOIN’s Yale School of Medicine Clinical Research Center
In a study by the Yale School of Medicine and the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, researchers validated two new substance use disorder diagnostic assessment tools for DSM-5 opioid and stimulant use disorders, which can be administered easily by clinical and non-clinical personnel in a variety of settings: the Rapid Opioid Use Disorder Assessment (ROUDA) and Rapid Stimulant Use Disorder Assessment (RSUDA).
After creating the Rapid Opioid Dependency Screen (RODS) in 2015, Dr. Sandra Springer updated the tool (now called ROUDA) to align with the DSM-5 criteria for moderate-to-severe opioid use disorder and to make it easier for providers to prescribe patients medications to treat opioid use disorder. Similarly, Dr. Angela Di Paola created the RSUDA to diagnose stimulant use disorder and to connect patients with stimulant disorder treatments and harm reduction services. While providers can administer the ROUDA and the RSUDA separately, the researchers recommend using the assessments together as concurrent stimulant and opioid use-related overdoses are common.
The assessment tools creators highlighted the rapid diagnosis process which allows people to receive life-saving medications, diagnoses need to be paired with care plans, and the healthcare system should be composed of interdisciplinary teams.