A new tool to improve the management of chronic pain by changing the way it is assessed in clinical practice launches at the 13th World Congress on Pain, Montréal, Canada. The DoloTest is the only validated pain and quality of life assessment tool to involve the patient in interpreting the results. This empowers patients to describe the impact of their pain more effectively to their healthcare professional, and enables physicians to understand and manage their patients’ pain better over time.
“For too long we have lacked a simple means of assessing a patient’s pain and the impact on quality of life”, comments primary care physician Dr Kim Kristiansen who co-developed the tool.
“The DoloTest was specifically developed to address the significant under-assessment and under-treatment of chronic pain. The test provides in-depth insights beyond pain scores alone, within a very short space of time, to target treatment and pain management resources more effectively.”
Approximately one in five people is living with moderate to severe chronic pain and of these patients approximately one in eight has never had their pain assessed. Chronic pain places a significant emotional, physical and social burden on the patient and consequently impacts considerably on their quality of life. Pain is often underestimated by physicians and its impact on quality of life is rarely assessed in clinical practice. The DoloTest measures the eight most relevant ways in which pain impacts quality of life including sleep, mood and work – an approach which is endorsed by influential guidelines.
The DoloTest is simple and quick to use in consultations when time is often short. It is quicker to complete than the most commonly used pain and quality of life assessment tools, on average taking less than two minutes for patients to score. Importantly, the results are presented visually, encouraging patients to participate in the interpretation and evaluation of their own DoloTest-Profile. The results are easy to understand with 96 per cent of patients with persistent pain saying they ‘very much agree’ that the DoloTest provides a meaningful presentation of their pain.
“We welcome new innovations that improve pain assessment and patient outcomes,” comments Pia Frederiksen, pain patient and Head of Foreningen af Kroniske Smertepatienter (the Danish Association of Chronic Pain Patients). “Shared decision making is at the heart of patient-centred pain management. The DoloTest adopts this approach by involving both patients and physicians in generating a clear picture of pain so they can decide together on the most appropriate course of action.”