Which two tools are commonly used to screen for opioid misuse in chronic pain patients?

• A. Opioid Risk Tool (ORT) and Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain (SOAPP-R)
• B. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and PHQ-9
• C. CAGE questionnaire and AUDIT
• D. Beck Depression Inventory and GAD-7

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is using tools specifically designed to assess the risk of opioid misuse in patients who are being treated for chronic pain. The Opioid Risk Tool (ORT) and the Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain (SOAPP-R) are built for this purpose. ORT is a brief, clinician-administered or self-administered screen that looks at risk factors such as personal and family history of substance misuse, age, history of legal problems, and prior substance use treatment to categorize a patient’s risk level. SOAPP-R is a more comprehensive self-report instrument with many items that gauge behaviors, cravings, mood, and related factors to predict future misuse or aberrant drug-related behaviors.

Using these tools helps clinicians decide how intensively to monitor a patient on opioid therapy—whether to implement closer follow-up, urine drug screening, treatment contracts, or consider non-opioid alternatives for higher-risk individuals. Other commonly used screens like the MMSE or PHQ-9, CAGE/AUDIT, or BDI/GAD-7 assess cognitive status, depression, anxiety, or alcohol use, but they are not designed to screen specifically for opioid misuse risk.