Laura Mendez-Pino, MD

Pronouns

She/Her/Hers

Job Title

Research Scientist - Project Manager

Academic Rank

Department

Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Authors

Laura Mendez-Pino MD, Diego Villela-Franyutti MD, Jeffrey L. Schnipper MD, Richard D. Urman MD, Sarah Corey PhD, Patrick W. Collins, Robert N Jamison PhD

Principal Investigator

Robert N Jamison

Research Category: Opioid

Tags

Spanish translation and cultural linguistic validation of the Current Opioid Misuse Measurement (COMM-S)

Scientific Abstract

Misuse of prescription opioids for pain leads to frequent hospitalizations and deaths. The Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) is a valid, reliable and widely used tool for the assessment of opioid risk that is used in research protocols and clinical settings. Spanish is the fourth most popular language worldwide; the aim of this study is to translate the COMM into Spanish using a systematic linguistic translation process.
Translation was conducted according to the recommended 12-step Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) Consortium translation process. Forward and backward translations with reconciliation were conducted. An 11-item survey was administered to native Spanish-speaking recruits to assess the fidelity, readability, and accuracy of the translation.
The translation resulted in a linguistically validated Spanish-language version of the COMM (COMM-S). Twenty-one participants reviewed the COMM-S and answered the survey questions. Most respondents were between 25 and 45 years of age (47.6%), were Hispanic or Latino (90.4%), and 9 (42.9%) were female. Five respondents felt that a minor revision was needed. Consensus was reached by the investigators in the final accepted Spanish translation of the COMM.
The COMM-S is considered a valid and reliable translated tool; additional testing is needed to help establish the clinical utility of the COMM-S.

Lay Abstract

The Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) is a self-reported measure of risk for aberrant medication-related behavior among persons with chronic pain who are prescribed opioids for pain. It was developed to improve a clinician’s ability to periodically assess a patient’s risk for opioid misuse. The COMM contains 17 items rated from 0=” never” to 4=” very often.” The COMM has been used in multiple medical settings and translated into Chinese and Portuguese. However, since Spanish is spoken by over 559 million individuals and is the second most common language globally, it was felt that a Spanish translation of the COMM would be clinically valuable.

Clinical Implications

Clinicians should not rely on COMM scores alone for making clinical decisions but rather use this information as part of a comprehensive evaluation of a particular patient for long-term opioid therapy.