Optimal Information for Chronic Pain (OICP): Delphi Consensus on Patient Assessment and Interventional Techniques

Area of Science:

• Pain Medicine
• Clinical Research Methodology
• Data Standardization

Background:

• Chronic pain management is hindered by inconsistent clinical documentation.
• Variability in evaluation methods impacts patient care quality and research validity.
• A standardized approach is crucial due to the multifactorial nature of chronic pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a consensus on optimal requirements for evaluating chronic pain patients.
• To establish criteria for comprehensive chronic pain patient assessment.
• To inform real-world data analysis, predictive modeling, and care pathways.

Main Methods:

• A Delphi method was used to gather expert opinions on chronic pain evaluation criteria.
• Three survey rounds assessed patient/pathology, treatment, and follow-up variables using a 5-point Likert scale.
• Consensus variables were defined by expert agreement thresholds (e.g., >70% agreement).

Main Results:

• A significant number of variables were deemed essential across patient/pathology, treatment, and follow-up domains.
• Consensus was reached on key elements including demographics, pain treatments, and medication use.
• The study identified 63.1% of evaluated variables as essential for chronic pain management.

Conclusions:

• This work defines essential variables for chronic pain patient management.
• Consensus highlights critical aspects of patient, pathology, treatment, and follow-up.
• Standardized data collection is vital for advancing chronic pain research and care.