Patients' perspectives on methods of assessing pain

Pain questionnaires often serve as an assessment tool for initial  consultations in chronic pain clinics. The Pain Management Unit (PMU) is a tertiary care centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A number of clinicians in the PMU have noted that some patients express that questionnaires are time consuming to complete and believe they are not used in a manner that is helpful to their health care. The effectiveness of questionnaire-based pain evaluation is an area of active research. Text-heavy questionnaires have been criticized for their reliance on literacy and for the format’s inability to facilitate patient self-expression. Other methods of assessing pain have been suggested, including those that use pictograms, photographs and technology. This study was designed to gauge patients’ opinions on the current pain assessment method used in the PMU. In addition, it aimed to evaluate if incorporating art and technology appealed to current patients. The ultimate goal of this study was to evaluate if improvements could be made to patients’ pain assessment experience. Thirty patients were interviewed following their initial consultation appointments at the PMU. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using NVivo Software to look for themes expressed by research participants. The study yielded a total of 20 different themes, such as repetition within the questionnaires, and the patient’s desire to incorporate different technologies such as an iPad or computer. Recommendations are proposed based on these themes to help guide the creation or modification of pain assessment tools.