Surveying patients in pain clinics: Some methodological considerations

Many pain clinicians are interested in routine data collection on the patients in their care, yet the value of routine data on pain patients has not been appraised and the difficulties of data capture are rarely described. There are many issues which have to be settled before data collection can begin: what data are collected on which patients; where, when and how? Study design is complicated by the multifarious nature of the pain patient and the complexity of their interaction with health services. Focusing on limited objectives and resolving issues in the light of these objectives can help prevent studies failing to meet expectations. Patient surveys describe patients seen, and the nature and consequences of their care. Carefully designed they can provide valuable information to aid understanding and foster improvements in patient management. However, their power to explain why patients have the health problems they do is limited and they are not a convincing means of assessing treatment efficacy.