Related Experiment Videos
Grading the severity of chronic pain
Michael Von Korff1, Johan Ormel, Francis J Keefe
1Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Seattle, WA 98101 USA Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710 USA University of Washington Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, Seattle, WA 98195 USA.
Pain
|August 1, 1992
Summary
A new Chronic Pain Grade (CPG) effectively categorizes chronic pain severity using pain intensity and disability. This simple grading system shows strong correlations with negative health outcomes and predicts future pain, aiding clinical assessment.
Area of Science:
- Pain Medicine
- Epidemiology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Accurate grading of chronic pain severity is crucial for population surveys and clinical studies.
- Existing methods may not adequately capture the multifaceted nature of chronic pain.
- A simple, reliable grading system is needed for broad application in pain research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a simple method for grading chronic pain severity.
- To assess the utility of this grading system in general population surveys and primary care settings.
- To determine the relationship between the graded chronic pain severity and various health and functional outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study involving primary care patients with back pain, headache, and temporomandibular disorder pain.
- Guttman scale analysis was used to evaluate pain intensity and disability measures for hierarchical scaling.
- Chronic Pain Grade (CPG) was developed, categorizing severity into four hierarchical classes based on intensity and disability.
Main Results:
- Pain intensity and disability measures formed a reliable hierarchical scale, with intensity scaling the lower range and disability the upper range.
- The developed Chronic Pain Grade (CPG) demonstrated statistically significant, monotonically increasing relationships with unemployment, functional limitations, depression, self-rated health, opioid use, and doctor visits.
- CPG predicted future pain presence and functional limitations in longitudinal population-based data.
Conclusions:
- Grading chronic pain by intensity and disability provides a useful, brief ordinal measure of global pain severity.
- The Chronic Pain Grade (CPG) system is a valid and reliable tool for assessing chronic pain severity.
- CPG is associated with significant negative health and functional outcomes, making it valuable for research and clinical practice.