Self-Assessments

Self-completed assessments can often help determine causes and types of pain as well as identify areas for improvement in individual pain management plans. The RELIEF Pain Hub includes multiple questionnaires that you can complete and receive feedback based on your responses.

Scores on these self-completed assessments can be tracked over time to show progress or setbacks, or if any changes to your pain management plan have been beneficial. Consider sharing your results along with a record of what you are/have been doing to manage your pain (such as medication and non-medication-based treatments) with your pain management team. Doing so can help to make adjustments in your overall pain management treatment plan.

While completing the assessments available on the RELIEF Pain Hub you will notice each provides an overall score. You can also make note of your responses to individual assessment items to see if there are specific areas that may be causing more issues than others.

Pain Types

Identifying the type(s) of pain impacting your day-to-day life can be an important part of creating a successful management plan. There are many different types of pain; for example, it can be described by location (where does it hurt?), duration (how long has it hurt?), and cause (why does it hurt?) among others. Many people have more than one type of pain.

Pain Duration: How long have you been dealing with your pain? Identifying acute and sub-acute (short-term) pain from chronic (long-term) pain can help develop an appropriate management plan.

Complete Duration Assessment

Neuropathic Pain: Does your pain include a nerve or neuropathic component? Neuropathic pain, described as pain originating from a damaged or malfunctioning nervous system (such as fibromyalgia, post-shingles pain, diabetic neuropathy, and many others) can feel different from other painful medical conditions and have specific treatments. The Neuropathic Pain Assessment (DN4) is a tool that can help indicate the presence of neuropathic pain.

Complete Neuropathic Pain Assessment

Pain Intensity and Interference

Pain intensity is simply how much your pain hurts while pain interference is the degree that your pain impacts your ability to participate in, and complete, tasks such as activities of daily living and engaging in those that bring you joy.

Pain, Enjoyment of Life and General Activity (PEG) Assessment: A brief, three-question assessment tool known as the “Pain, Enjoyment of Life, and General Activity” scale. The PEG-3 can be used to monitor your pain’s intensity and interference with your life. It is designed to be taken every week (7-days). Completing it regularly can help you track any progress you are making with your pain management plan. Use this tool to help set priorities and see where to start with your pain relief plan.

Complete PEG Assessment

Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Intensity Assessment: The PROMIS Pain Intensity assessment is a three-question measure that focuses on evaluating your pain’s intensity over the previous week (7-days).

Complete Pain Intensity Assessment

PROMIS Pain Interference Assessment: This assessment can be used to evaluate the consequences of pain on relevant aspects of one’s life including the extent to which pain hinders engagement with social, cognitive, emotional, physical, and recreational activities.

Complete Pain Interference Assessment

Wellbeing

Your wellbeing is a crucial component of your pain management plan. Feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression have been shown to make pain feel worse and increase your pain’s interference with your life. Wellbeing and emotions can also reduce your ability to self-manage your pain while lowering your quality of life. Regular assessment and tracking of these emotions can help indicate your progress over time.

Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2): A two-question assessment tool that helps evaluate depressive symptoms. The PHQ-2 is designed to be taken every two weeks (14-days).

Complete PHQ-2 Assessment

Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2 (GAD-2): A two-question assessment tool that helps evaluate anxiety symptoms. The GAD-2 is designed to be taken every two weeks (14-days)

Complete GAD-2 Assessment

World Health Organization’s Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5): A five-question assessment tool that is used to measure your current overall wellbeing. It is designed to be completed every two weeks (14-days).

Complete WHO-5 Assessment

Healthy Living

Your pain can impact additional areas of your life including sleep, physical function, and substance use. Similar to evaluating your wellbeing, it is important to monitor additional areas as part of your overall pain management plan.

PROMIS Sleep Disturbance: A four-question assessment tool that is designed to evaluate your sleep quality. It can be taken weekly (7-days).

Complete Sleep Disturbance Assessment

PROMIS Physical Function: A four-question assessment tool evaluating your ability to complete physical functions. Although there is no specific recall period, it can be completed weekly (7-days).

Complete Physical Function Assessment

CAGE-AID: A four-question assessment tool that is designed to identify potential substance use problems, including alcohol and other drugs.

Complete Substance Use Assessment

Adolescent Brief Screener for Tobacco, Alcohol, and other Drugs (BSTAD)

Complete Adolescent Substance Use Risk Assessment

Adult Brief Screener for Tobacco, Alcohol, and other Drugs (BSTAD)

Complete Adult Substance Use Risk Assessment