Assessment of pain and other patient symptoms in routine clinical care as quantitative, standardised, "scientific" data.

Pain is the most common basis for visits to a rheumatologist, and reduction of pain is a primary goal of clinical care. Pain is assessed optimally by the patient on a self-report questionnaire. In clinical trials and other clinical research concerning pain and pain relief, detailed questionnaires are generally completed by patients. However, in routine clinical care, pain is generally assessed only according to narrative descriptions by the physician, and only a minority of settings assess pain using a standard, quantitative measure. Accurate, standard, quantitative assessment of pain in routine care is easily assessed in all patients with all diagnoses on a 0-10 visual analogue scale (VAS), by asking each patient to complete a 2-page multidimensional health assessment questionnaire/routine assessment of patient index data 3 (MDHAQ/RAPID3) at all visits. The MDHAQ includes VAS for pain, patient global assessment, and fatigue, as well as a quantitative physical function scale, RAPID3, review of systems, and recent medical history. The questionnaire provides the doctor with a 10-15 second overview of medical history data that otherwise would require about 10-15 minutes of conversation, saving time for the doctor and patient to focus on the most prominent concerns for the visit. MDHAQ scores from patients with 10 different rheumatic diagnoses, and specific data indicating similarity of scores in patients with osteoarthritis versus rheumatoid arthritis on the same questionnaire, are presented to illustrate the value of the MDHAQ in routine care.