Pain Disability Questionnaire

Pain Disability Questionnaire (PDQ) Instructions

This survey asks your views about how your pain affects how your function with everyday activities. This information will help you and your doctor know how you feel and how well you are able to do your daily tasks at this time. Please answer every question by tapping the number from 0 to 10 along the line to show how much your pain problem has affected you (from 0-having no problems at all, to 10-having the most severe problems you can imagine). You must answer ALL questions as best you can.

Introduction

Pain is defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience usually associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” Pain is subjective in nature and it cannot be readily validated or objectively measured. Subjective reports of pain severity may not correlate well with its functional impact and, therefore it is important to document the extent that function is believed to be impacted by pain. The Pain Disability Questionnaire (PDQ) is an important clinical tool that helps a clinician document and monitor a patient’s self-reported levels of pain and functional ability. Acute pain is usually linked to a precipitating event (e.g., trauma or surgery). However, pain may follow a continuum from acute to non-acute (chronic). While biologic mechanisms play a role in the perception of pain, it is also important to recognize that psychological and environmental factors are as important. Recognition of these factors may allow the physician to better understand and treat an injured patient, identify the “at risk” patient, and refer the patient to the appropriate resources.

The biopsychosocial model approaches pain and disability as a complex interplay of biological, psychological and social factors which may be easily assessed, and focuses greater attention on the patient, rather than on presumed pathophysiology. This approach recognizes that pain is ultimately the result of the pathophysiology plus the psychological state, cultural background/belief system, and relationship/interactions with the environment (workplace, home, disability system, and health care providers). Psychometric testing, such as the PDQ, is useful in the assessment of mental conditions, pain conditions, and cognitive functioning. Psychometric testing is a valuable clinical tools that assists a physician in making a more effective treatment plan, vocational plan, and in the evaluation of treatment effectiveness.

Both the English and Spanish version of this PDQ are published in the New York State Guidelines for Determining Permanent Impairment and Loss of Wage Earning Capacity December 2012, pages 113-117.
http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/hcpp/ImpairmentGuidelines/2012ImpairmentGuide.pdf