Medication Quantification Scale Version III: update in medication classes and revised detriment weights by survey of American Pain Society Physicians.
The Medication Quantification Scale (MQS) is an instrument with potential clinical and research applications for quantifying medication regimen use in chronic pain populations. The MQS was developed in 1992 and updated in 1998 (MQS II) as a tool to co-quantify 3 relevant aspects of medications prescribed for chronic nonmalignant pain: drug class, dosage, and detriment (risk). This 2003 version (MQS III) is the third iteration of the scale, featuring new detriment weights determined by surveying all physician members of the American Pain Society in the United States via mail. A total of 248 physicians (18%) responded with their opinion as to the detriment of 22 mechanistically distinct medication classes. Overall, the physician ratings of detriment weight were relatively consistent (alpha = .84). The increased number of survey responses encompassed a wide range of disciplines, thus reducing discipline bias and introducing several important changes to MQS scoring. Some medication classes previously rated with low detriment weights (eg, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) increased in detriment weight (from 2 to 3.4), whereas other classes previously given high weights (eg, "strong" opioids) received lower detriment ratings (from 5 to 3.4) in this survey. The MQS III must now be validated in clinical and research applications.


CONCLUSIONS
The MQS is a tool to objectively quantify pain. It computes a single numeric value for a patient's pain medication profile. This number can be used by both clinicians and researchers to track pain levels through a treatment course or research study.
Harden
R Norman
RN
Center for Pain Studies, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. nharden@ric.org
Weinland
Stephan R
SR
Remble
Thomas A
TA
Houle
Timothy T
TT
Colio
Sean
S
Steedman
Susan
S
Kee
William G
WG
D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D015982:Bias; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy; D018710:Pain Clinics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States
D000700:Analgesics; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal