Additional validation of the pain medication questionnaire in a heterogeneous sample of chronic pain patients.

The present study represents the next stage in the development of a psychometrically sound, self-report screening tool used for assessing the potential pain-medication-misuse risk. A revised Pain Medication Questionnaire (PMQ) was initially designed to successfully evaluate such risk. A subsequent series of two additional studies further documented the clinical utility of the PMQ. A new shortened version of the PMQ was developed, and its psychometric properties, along with its predictive accuracy in identifying risk for medication misuse, were evaluated. Results revealed that the new version maintained the strong psychometric properties of the original PMQ. Moreover, its predictive accuracy was found to be high (85.5% accuracy). Thus, this revised, shortened PMQ can aid physicians in assessing for potential medication misuse, allowing them to more closely monitor at-risk patients during pain management treatment.