Prescription Opioid Misuse Index (POMI)

Patient selection: prescription for opioid analgesic

With regard to use of the opioid analgesic:

(1) take more drug than prescribed

(2) take the drug more often than prescribed

(3) ask for early refills

(4) went to multiple providers in order to get more drug

(5) use the drug to get high

(6) use the drug to cope with problems or if upset

where:

• Responses should reflect a pattern of behavior rather than a rare or infrequent event.

total score =

= SUM(points for all 6 items)

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 0

• maximum score: 6

• The higher the score the more likely that there could be a problem.

• The authors used a cutoff >= 2 as indicating a potential problem.

Performance:

• The sensitivity at the cutoff >= 2 was 82% and specificity 92%. The Youden index was 74%.