[Evaluation of chronic pelvic and perineal pain]

To describe the tools allowing evaluation of chronic pelvic and perineal pain and to define their indications.

A review of the literature was performed by searching the Medline database (National Library of Medicine). Search terms were either Medical subject heading (MeSH) keywords (pelvic pain, pain measurement, prostatitis, quality of life) or terms derived from the title or abstract. Search terms were used alone or in combinations by using the "AND" operator. The literature search was conducted from 1990 to the present time.

Various rating scales and questionnaires constitute useful tools for clinical evaluation of the patient's chronic pain. They cannot replace clinical interview and cannot be used to establish a diagnosis. The main clinical assessment tools include severity scales, body diagrams, descriptive assessment (sensory and affective), evaluation of the impact on sleep, activities of daily living, quality of life and behaviour and assessment of mood and anxiety. In addition to these general tools, specific questionnaire have been developed in the fields of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. These specific questionnaires are designed for evaluation of the severity of symptoms, assessment of the disability related to the symptoms and the impact on quality of life, and follow-up of the course of symptoms and the response to treatment.

Rapid and easy to use tools are essential in routine clinical practice. The recommended assessment tools are VAS (visual analogue scale) or numerical severity scales, body diagrams and brief questionnaires such as the Questionnaire sur la Douleur de Saint-Antoine (QDSA) (Saint-Antoine pain questionnaire) or Questionnaire Concis sur les Douleurs (QCD) (validated French translation of the Brief Pain Inventory).