Effect of Research Participation Versus Usual Clinical Treatment on Pain in Patients With Musculoskeletal Disorders

PainDETECT questionnaire was developed to detect neuropathic pain components in adult patients. The questionnaire consists of seven questions addressing the quality of neuropathic pain symptoms; it is completed entirely by the patient. It contains seven questions that address the quality of neuropathic pain symptoms scored from 0 to 5 (never = 0, hardly noticed = 1, slightly = 2; moderately = 3, strongly = 4, very strongly = 5), four questions addressing the pain course pattern (scored from -1 to +1) and one question concerning radiation of pain into other parts of the body (yes (+2)/no (0)). The final score between -1 and 38 indicates the likelihood of a neuropathic pain component. A score of ≤ 12 indicates that pain is unlikely to have a neuropathic component, while a score of ≥ 19 suggests that pain is likely to have a neuropathic component

The Brief illness perception questionnaire BIPQ is a generic questionnaire developed to measure illness perception in a variety of illnesses. The questionnaire is patient-reported and assesses perceptions on the following five dimensions: Identity, Cause, Timeline, Consequences and Cure-Control. It contains eight numerical rating scales questions (0-10) and a memo field based on the patients' own beliefs about their condition. In some circumstances it may be possible to compute an overall score which represents the degree to which the illness is perceived as threatening or benign. To compute the score, reverse score items 3, 4, and 7 and add these to items 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8. A higher score reflects a more threatening view of the illness.

Guided by a drawing the participants indicate each area that they have felt pain in over the last week. Pain due to other known illnesses should be excluded from the assessment. There are 19 areas and the index ranges from 0 - 19, with 19 being worst. The WPI is used as part of the ACR fibromyalgia classification criteria but can be used for other pain related disorders

EQ-5D is a standardised measure of health status that provides a simple, generic measure of health. It is applicable to a wide range of health conditions. EQ-5D is designed for self-completion by respondents and is ideally suited for use in postal surveys, in clinics, and in face-to-face interviews and takes only a few minutes to complete. The EQ-5D-3L essentially consists of the EQ-5D descriptive system and the EQ visual analogue scale (EQ VAS). The EQ-5D-3L descriptive system comprises the following 5 dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. Each dimension has 3 levels: no problems, some problems, extreme problems. The EQ VAS records the respondent's self-rated health on a vertical, visual analogue scale where the endpoints are labelled 'Best imaginable health state' and 'Worst imaginable health state'. This information can be used as a quantitative measure of health outcome as judged by the individual respondents

HAQ-DI (HAQ-disability) contains 8 sections: dressing, arising, eating, walking, hygiene, reach, grip, and activities. There are 2 or 3 questions for each section. Scoring within each section is from 0 (without any difficulty) to 3 (unable to do). For each section the score given to that section is the worst score within the section, i.e. if one question is scored 1 and another 2, then the score for the section is 2. In addition, if an aide or device is used or if help is required from another individual, then the minimum score for that section is 2. If the section score is already 2 or more then no modification is made. The 8 scores of the 8 sections are summed and divided by 8. If one section is not completed by a subject, then the summed score would be divided by 7. Scores of 0 to 1 are generally considered to represent mild to moderate difficulty, 1 to 2 moderate to severe disability, and 2 to 3 severe to very severe disability