Since the patient may have used sedatives during the past 12 months, they may still be at risk for adverse outcomes despite no use in the past 3 months and may meet DSM-5 criteria for Sedative Use Disorder.
Note: Patients who report no past 12 months sedative use are currently at an undetermined risk for adverse outcomes associated with sedative use. Those who report sedative use in previous years but have not used in the past 12 months may be at risk for relapse or other complications.
The recommended action for a “no recent (i.e. no past 3 months) sedative use” result is to deliver a prevention message to continue abstinence. This is especially relevant for young adults and patients with medical conditions that may be worsened by sedative use. Ask additional questions to determine use frequency and patterns in the previous time periods in order to better determine risk level.
- Give positive reinforcement for abstinence.
- Personalize the prevention message as much as possible.
- For example: support recent abstinence for patients with depression, discuss the link between substance use and depressive symptoms.