Pain questionnaires in the analysis of long lasting (chronic) pain conditions

A study on mainly non-cancer-related pain patients was performed concerning clinical patient data used for pain history-taking and diagnosis. More than 2100 consecutive patients referred to the anaesthetic branch of the Multidisciplinary Pain Centre (MPC) were evaluated at the first visit. The use of a paper questionnaire, including a pain-drawing and pain intensity Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), was analysed. In a substudy of more than 290 consecutive patients, data from a computerised questionnaire and database was analysed. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires (EORTC QLQ-C30) (version 2.0) was used for recording of the Global Health Status/Quality of Life (GHS/QoL) score. The substudy also included the summarized mechanism-based evaluation of the patients at the first visit, judged by a specialist in pain medicine. The patients' GHS/QoL score was low. The most important pain mechanisms, were nociceptive and peripheral neurogenic. The clinical use of these tools for patient evaluation and for the choice of treatment is suggested. Information technology may be used for analysis of descriptive, evaluative, predictive and prognostic data in pain patients. It can also be used as a tool for clinical pain research towards a mechanism-based evaluation. Evaluation of patient quality of life and function is suitable for outcome research.