This course will discuss limitations of commonly used pain measures such as the numeric rating scale and visual analog scale and discuss evidence-based alternatives which capture the complexities and impact of pain. We will focus on person-centered outcome measures and choosing the correct outcome measures for specific patients or research objectives. We will discuss patient reported outcome measures and mechanistic pain outcomes and associated challenges in assessment and interpretation. We will discuss lessons learned from a previous attempted clinical trial which was not able to be completed due to these challenges. We will focus on clinical and research implications, focusing on how to improve future clinical practice and research to align with evidence-based standards in pain assessment.

Upon completion of this session, the attendee will be able to:

• Understand the limitations in traditional measures of pain.
• Understand alternative patient reported and mechanistic outcomes including measurement tools and clinical utility.
• Understand challenges and limitations in pain assessment through different measures.
• Understand evidence based application of pain measures in the clinic, research setting, and classroom.

This course presents results of Dr. Keter's and Dr. Learman's OPTA grant funded research project, supported by the OPTA's Research Committee.