Validation of the revised Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain (SOAPP-R).
The original Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain (SOAPP) is a conceptually derived self-report questionnaire designed to predict aberrant medication-related behaviors among chronic pain patients considered for long-term opioid therapy. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an empirically derived version of the SOAPP (SOAPP-R) that addresses some limitations of the original SOAPP. In successive steps, items were reduced from an initial pool of 142 to a 97-item beta version. The beta version was administered to 283 chronic pain patients receiving long-term opioid therapy. Items were evaluated based on data collected at follow-up, including correlation with the Aberrant Drug Behavior Index (ADBI), derived from interview data, physician ratings, and urine toxicology screens. Twenty-four items were retained and comprise the final SOAPP-R. Coefficient alpha was .88, and receiver operating characteristics curve analysis yielded an area under the curve of .81 (P < .001). A cutoff score of 18 showed adequate sensitivity (.81) and specificity (.68). The obtained psychometrics, along with the use of a predictive criterion that goes beyond self-report, suggest that the SOAPP-R is an improvement over the original version in screening risk potential for aberrant medication-related behavior among persons with chronic pain.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for a screener for abuse risk in patients prescribed opioids for pain. This study presents a revised version of the SOAPP-R that is empirically derived with good reliability and validity but is less susceptible to overt deception than the original SOAPP version 1.
Butler
Stephen F
SF
Inflexxion, Inc., Newton, Massachusetts 02464, USA. sfbutler@inflexxion.com
Fernandez
Kathrine
K
Benoit
Christine
C
Budman
Simon H
SH
Jamison
Robert N
RN
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid