Evaluation of the Current Opioid Misuse Measure Among Substance Use Disorder Treatment Patients

Abstract

The Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) has demonstrated promising psychometric properties among pain clinic and primary care patients. Given the high prevalence of the nonmedical use of prescription opioids among substance use disorder patients, the COMM may also be useful in substance use disorder treatment settings. The purpose of this study was to assess the factor structure and validity of the COMM in a sample of substance use disorder patients. Participants (n = 351) were recruited from a large residential substance use disorder treatment center and completed the COMM and several questionnaires assessing various substance use and health functioning characteristics. Factor analyses yield a two-factor solution; however, each of the items in the second factor cross-loaded onto the first factor and just one factor was retained. To provide support for this new 11-item COMM, we found that higher scores on this COMM were associated with greater drug use severity, greater endorsement of positive, negative, and pain relief outcome expectancies related to opioid use, increased pain intensity, and decreased physical and mental health functioning. These findings provide initial support for the psychometric properties of this version of the COMM adapted for substance use disorder treatment settings. Given its promising psychometric properties, the 11 items of the COMM to evaluate the nonmedical use of prescription opioids has potential utility among substance use disorder patients. The COMM could be used to examine nonmedical use over the course of treatment and to aid treatment planning. It could also be used in research as an outcome measure.

Justice involvement patterns, overdose experiences, and naloxone knowledge among men and women in criminal justice diversion addiction treatment

“…Additionally, we summarized whether participants used heroin for ≥ 7 consecutive days or injected any substance in the month prior to entering treatment or jail. Finally, we described nonmedical prescription opioid use in the month before entering treatment or jail using four items from the Current Opioid Misuse Measure found to describe nonmedical prescription opioid use in the addiction treatment setting [37, 38]. Specifically, we summarized whether participants reported engaging in any of the following when using prescription opioids: taking prescription opioids belonging to someone else, borrowing prescription opioids from someone else, using more than they were prescribed, or using prescription opioids to treat symptoms other than pain.…”

Riesgo de uso indebido de opioides prescritos en pacientes con dolor crónico no oncológico en un hospital de sistema mutual en Chile

“…El porcentaje ponderado global de todos los pacientes fue de 44,13 (± DE 15,0), lo que es significativamente más bajo que la puntuación promedio en la población chilena, el cual es 76,1 (16). Estudios previos describen la asociación entre el mal uso de opioides y un peor funcionamiento físico y mental (12). En nuestro estudio destaca una diferencia significativa para cuatro dominios de la SF 36 (limitación del rol físico, salud general, vitalidad y salud mental), lo que nos parece concordante con estos hallazgos.…”

“…El deterioro de la calidad de vida de los pacientes con diagnóstico de DCNO y mal uso de opioides es un fenómeno analizado y se ha establecido que son las dimensiones relacionadas a la salud física y mental, las más afectadas (12).…”

Alcohol and Drug Overdose and the Influence of Pain Conditions in an Addiction Treatment Sample

“…Lifetime history items from the self-reported Addiction Severity Index (ASI; McLellan et al, 1980) were used to classify participants into the alcohol OD risk group (lifetime history of alcohol use) or drug OD risk group (lifetime history of heroin, methadone, nonprescribed opioids/narcotic analgesics, barbiturates, sedatives, hypnotics, tranquilizers, amphetamines, ecstasy, cannabis, hallucinogens, phencyclidine, ketamine, inhalants, or ''any other drugs''). Six items from the Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM; Butler et al, 2007;Ashrafioun et al, 2015) assessed opioid misuse thoughts and behaviors in the 30 days before treatment. Response choices range from 0 (never) to 4 (very often).…”