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Pain Medication Questionnaire (PMQ)

Assess patients with autistic traits alongside cognitive tasks in Creyos Health to compare cognitive functioning to age-matched peers

 

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Benefits for Healthcare Providers

The PMQ helps screen pain patients for behaviors associated with a risk of substance abuse. It can be used alongside additional questionnaires and cognitive tasks in Creyos Health for a fuller picture of cognitive health.


One Platform

Centralized Platform

Healthcare providers can administer the PMQ questionnaire alongside cognitive tasks and get real-time results—all from the same platform.

Access to Care

Improved Access to Care

Patients can complete the PMQ screening tool in person or at home, improving access to assessment and treatment.

Track Over Time

Track Patient Health

Providers can benchmark and continuously evaluate pain patients symptom progression with a centralized health record that includes longitudinal data.

Millions Worldwide Experience Opioid Use Disorder

2.1 million Americans and 16 million people worldwide experience opioid use disorder. By effectively screening pain patients for their risk of potential addiction, healthcare providers can intervene early and address pain, changes in cognitive function, and substance abuse concerns.

Review our guide below for a complete list of standardized questionnaires available in Creyos.

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Opioid Stats

Preview the Creyos PMQ Sample Report

The PMQ offered through Creyos is a 26-question self-report questionnaire designed to screen for risk of pain medication abuse. 

When administered alongside measures of cognitive performance, it allows clinicians to:

  • Effectively determine which patients might be suitable for opioid treatment
  • Give patients the option to complete in person or remotely
  • Reduce administrative burden with automated scoring and results

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How to Use the PMQ Questionnaire

Step 1: Explain the Questionnaire

The PMQ is not a pre-treatment tool. Rather, it is an opioid screening instrument to measure the risk of patients who are already taking opioids. This helps clinicians spot potential opioid misuse and intervene for better treatment outcomes.

Step 2: Administer Questionnaire

The PMQ questionnaire contains 26 questions related to how a patient feels about their pain or current medication at the time of assessment. It can be administered in person through the Creyos Health platform on an in-clinic device or remotely through a provided link.

Step 3: Review Results

Creyos Health automatically scores PMQ results and provides reports. Higher scores indicate a greater risk of pain medication misuse.

Step 4: Compare With Cognitive Results

Healthcare providers can discuss results with patients and combine with other assessments and cognitive tasks to build a complete picture of the patient’s health.

How to use PMQ

The Link Between Pain, Substance Abuse, and Cognitive Function

Chronic pain can have a profound impact on cognitive function, creating challenges with memory, attention, problem solving, and decision making. While pain medications can help reduce pain and improve quality of life, they can also cause significant cognitive impairment when misused or abused.

Creyos Health’s neuropsychological tasks can help clinicians monitor patients with chronic pain and the cognitive effects of pain medication over the course of treatment. These tasks can be used alongside the PMQ and additional questionnaires like the AUDIT, the DAST-10, and the ORT, which are all available within the Creyos Health platform.

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Simplify Patient Pain & Substance Abuse Assessments with Creyos

Administer the PMQ, digitized behavioral health questionnaires, and online cognitive tasks—all in one place.

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Frequently asked questions

Where did the Pain Medication Questionnaire come from?

The PMQ questionnaire was developed by Laura L. Adams et al. in 2004 as a way to easily identify patients who need a more thorough assessment for risk of opioid medication misuse or substance abuse.

How is pain medication related to cognition?

Substance abuse and cognition are deeply interconnected, with one recent study describing the relationship between the two as bidirectional—not only can substance abuse lead to cognitive deficits, but pre-existing cognitive impairment is also a risk factor for future substance abuse.

The impacts of opioids and opioid therapy on cognition are undoubtedly deserving of attention as, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 6.5% of adults over the age of 20 will report having very recently used prescription opioids. Opioids can have an impact on short-term cognition and, when used chronically, may also have long lasting effects on a variety of cognitive domains.

How is pain related to cognition?

Chronic pain itself also plays a role in cognition. One study reported cognitive deficits in 54% of chronic pain patients, particularly in domains such as episodic memory and attention, suggesting the need for routine assessment.

Who uses the PMQ screening tool?

The PMQ questionnaire is commonly used by addiction clinics, mental health professionals, and other healthcare professionals, researchers, and individuals to screen for risk of drug abuse.

How is the PMQ scored?

The PMQ is a self-report questionnaire that contains 26 items that ask about a person’s feelings around their current pain and pain medication. Questions are answered on a 5-point scale, normally ranging from “disagree” to “agree” or “never” to “always.” Higher scores indicate a greater risk for substance abuse and should be paired with additional questionnaires and cognitive tasks.

How does administration and scoring of the PMQ screening tool work in Creyos?

Administration is flexible and efficient; questionnaires can be administered by a mental health provider or technician, either in-clinic or emailed to the patient to be completed remotely. This flexibility allows providers to maximize their appointment time with patients, and reduce time spent on scoring or recording session notes.

When a patient completes the Pain Medication Questionnaire, providers get immediate insights through easy-to-read reports that combine questionnaire data with cognitive test results for a full picture of patient brain health. 

Creyos can also use APIs to integrate with a variety of electronic health systems (EHR) and has a built-in integration with athenahealth. Our platform automatically collects, scores, and organizes results from each questionnaire and adds them to the patient’s EHR.

What behaviors does the PMQ questionnaire evaluate?

The PMQ screening tool evaluates behaviors related to pain medication use and abuse, including: history of substance abuse, family history of substance abuse, mental health conditions, pain severity, and additional risk factors.

How can the PMQ questionnaire support patients?

The PMQ questionnaire should be used as a screening tool to assist primary care providers, mental health professionals, addictions or pain specialists, or others in understanding pain medication use and abuse and monitoring behaviors over time. Any conclusions drawn from the PMQ should be paired with further assessment, such as clinical interviews and observations, additional mental health examinations or assessments, and evaluations of the patient’s level of distress, functional impairment, and/or family history.

What can the PMQ questionnaire not do?

The Pain Medication Questionnaire can serve as a starting point for conversations between patients and healthcare providers about substance abuse, but it does not suggest a particular diagnosis or course of treatment on its own. PMQ scores are meant as an aid to quantify and measure the presence and severity of symptoms and behaviors over time.

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