Our primary outcome was the measure ’s minimal important difference ( MID ) .
Conclusions In this focused evidence review , the most evidence on key psychometric properties in chronic musculoskeletal pain population s was found for the ODI , RMDQ , SF-36 BPS , NRS , and VAS .
Background Developing successful interventions for chronic musculoskeletal pain requires valid , responsive , and reliable outcome measures .
The Minneapolis VA Evidence -based Synthesis Program completed a focused evidence review on key psychometric properties of 17 self-report measures of pain severity and pain-related functional impairment suitable for clinical research on chronic musculoskeletal pain .
Accuracy of the Pain Numeric Rating Scale as a Screening Test in Primary Care
BACKGROUND Universal pain screening with a 0–10 pain intensity numeric rating scale ( NRS ) has been widely implemented in primary care . OBJECTIVE To evaluate the accuracy of the NRS as a screening test to identify primary care patients with clinical ly important pain . DESIGN Prospect i ve diagnostic accuracy study PARTICIPANTS 275 adult clinic patients were enrolled from September 2005 to March 2006 . MEASUREMENTS We operationalized clinical ly important pain using two alternate definitions : ( 1 ) pain that interferes with functioning ( Brief Pain Inventory interference scale ≥ 5 ) and ( 2 ) pain that motivates a physician visit ( patient-reported reason for the visit ) . RESULTS 22 % of patients reported a pain symptom as the main reason for the visit . The most common pain locations were lower extremity ( 21 % ) and back/neck ( 18 % ) . The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for the NRS as a test for pain that interferes with functioning was 0.76 , indicating fair accuracy . A pain screening NRS score of 1 was 69 % sensitive ( 95 % CI 60–78 ) for pain that interferes with functioning . Multilevel likelihood ratios for scores of 0 , 1–3 , 4–6 , and 7–10 were 0.39 ( 0.29–0.53 ) , 0.99 ( 0.38–2.60 ) , 2.67 ( 1.56–4.57 ) , and 5.60 ( 3.06–10.26 ) , respectively . Results were similar when NRS scores were evaluated against the alternate definition of clinical ly important pain ( pain that motivates a physician visit ) . CONCLUSIONS The most commonly used measure for pain screening may have only modest accuracy for identifying patients with clinical ly important pain in primary care . Further research is needed to evaluate whether pain screening improves patient outcomes in primary care
Our primary outcome was the measure ’s minimal important difference ( MID ) .
Conclusions In this focused evidence review , the most evidence on key psychometric properties in chronic musculoskeletal pain population s was found for the ODI , RMDQ , SF-36 BPS , NRS , and VAS .
Background Developing successful interventions for chronic musculoskeletal pain requires valid , responsive , and reliable outcome measures .
The Minneapolis VA Evidence -based Synthesis Program completed a focused evidence review on key psychometric properties of 17 self-report measures of pain severity and pain-related functional impairment suitable for clinical research on chronic musculoskeletal pain .