Opioid Medication Use Among Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Patients Assessed with a Modified Drug Effects Questionnaire and the Association with Opioid Use Disorder

Purpose: Identifying opioid use disorder (OUD) in patients prescribed opioid therapy for chronic pain is challenging but critically important. Patients may have multiple reasons for taking medications, which they may not reveal if not properly interviewed. In this study, modified Drug Effects Questionnaires (DEQ) were used to assess the liking of and desire to take prescription opioids both for reasons of pain relief and for reasons excluding pain relief. We hypothesized patients would more strongly endorse their medications for reasons of pain relief compared to reasons excluding pain relief, and patients who endorse medications for reasons excluding pain relief may be at higher risk of developing OUD. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional telephone survey was administered to 200 adult outpatients currently being prescribed opioids. A two-year retrospective analysis of electronic health records supplemented survey findings. Results: Based on DSM-5 criteria, 9.0% (n = 18) of patients had moderate or severe OUD. The mean (SD) for drug-liking was 54 (33.4) on a 0 to 100 scale. When liking for pain relief was specified, the mean (SD) was significantly higher compared to when excluding pain relief was specified, 70 (27.8) vs 24 (31.2), p<0.001. A similar pattern was observed for patients' ratings of desire to take their medication again, and "feel good effects" of their medications. Higher scores on items that excluded pain relief were associated with other indications of drug misuse. Conclusion: The observed rate of OUD in this patient sample was consistent with findings from other recent research. A better understanding of patients' reasons for using opioid medication may help researchers and health care providers identify those at greatest risk for developing OUD.