Report of the Commission on the Evaluation of Pain

The following is a reprint of the report to Congress transmitted by the Department of Health and Human Services in response to a provision of the Social Security Disability Benefits Reform Acto of 1984 (Public Law 98-460). It also includes some of the report's appendix material. The congressional mandate called for a study, performed in consultation with the National Academy of Sciences, of how pain is evaluated in determining disability under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act and for recommendations on how pain should be considered in evaluating disability under these programs. In addition to several recommendations for improvements in interviewing, applications, questionnaires, and development practices in "pain" cases by including pain specialists for consultative examinations, the Commission strongly advocated experiments to determine if individuals with impairment due primarily to pain can be reactivated and vocationally rehabilitated under appropriate programs or if such individuals should be allowed disability benefits.