title: Cross-Validation of a Screener to Predict Opioid Misuse in Chronic Pain Patients (SOAPP-R).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain - Revised (SOAPP-R) is a self-report questionnaire designed to predict aberrant medication-related behaviors among persons with chronic pain. This measure was developed to complement current risk assessment practices and to improve a clinician's ability to assess a patient's risk for opioid misuse. The aim of this study was to cross-validate the SOAPP-R with a new sample of chronic, non-cancer pain patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred and two participants (N=302) prescribed opioids for pain were recruited from five pain management centers in the U.S. Subjects completed a series of self-report measures and were followed for five months. Patients were rated by their treating physician, had a urine toxicology screen, and were classified on the Aberrant Drug Behavior index.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-three percent (73.2%) of the subjects (N= 221) were followed and 66 participants repeated the SOAPP-R after one week for test-retest reliability. The reliability and predictive validity, as measured by the area under the curve (AUC), were found to be highly significant (test-retest reliability = .91; coefficient alpha = .86; AUC = .74) and were sufficiently similar to values found with the initial sample. A cut-off score of 18 revealed a sensitivity of .80 and specificity of .52.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of this cross-validation study suggest that the psychometric parameters of the SOAPP-R are not based solely on the unique characteristics of the initial validation sample. The SOAPP-R is found to be a reliable and valid screening tool for risk of aberrant drug-related behavior among chronic pain patients.
authors.affiliation: Inflexxion, Inc., Newton, MA 02464, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Simon H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Budman
authors.forename: Kathrine C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Gilbert J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Fanciullo
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Jamison