Abstract
To practically evaluate quality-of-life (QOL) impairment in chronic pain patients, we devised a simple evaluation scale based on the visual analogue scale (VAS). We named it the patient's impaired QOL-VAS (PIQ-VAS) and investigated its applicability in clinical practice. In a screening for depression, 58 patients with chronic pain underwent evaluations with the following scales at the same time point: PIQ-VAS, pain VAS, the SF-8 health survey (SF-8), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). PIQ-VAS had a moderate negative correlation with all SF-8 subscales, and it was especially influenced by the role-emotional as well as bodily pain subscales. Furthermore, PIQ-VAS in the depression-suspected group (PHQ-2 score of 3 or greater) tended to be larger than that in the other group. We therefore conclude that PIQ-VAS reflects multiple aspects of health-related QOL and could be useful for globally evaluating QOL impairment, including the psychological problems in chronic pain patients.
