Patient self-report measures of chronic pain consultation measures: a systematic review

Earlier studies have associated improvements in chronic pain outcomes with various consultation attributes, including: the legitimization of people's chronic pain experience, affective components of the therapeutic relationship, and reaching decisions about people's care through collaboration. Although studies have used patient self-report measures to examine how certain aspects of consultations contribute to managing chronic pain. The psychometric quality of these measures seems to have not been independently appraised to date.

This review aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties and administrative feasibility of published patient self-report consultation measures that were validated for people with chronic pain.

Databases were searched to identify patient self-report consultation measures validated in chronic pain populations. Explicit review criteria for 8 measure attributes were developed for this review by synthesizing information from available guidelines. In total, 58 potentially relevant consultation measures were identified. Of these, 4 measures satisfied the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were critically appraised by 2 independent reviewers. Overall, the psychometric quality of the included measures was modest, particularly in terms of evidence for content validity, test-retest reliability, responsiveness, and interpretability.

Each of the included measures assessed differing aspects of consultations, and their potential clinical and research uses are discussed. Recommendations are made to improve the psychometric quality of the included measures. In summary, more psychometric research needs to be undertaken to improve the existing measures' quality and broaden the scope of chronic pain consultation measures before studies may be conducted to develop a comprehensive understanding of the manner in which consultation attributes influence chronic pain outcomes.