Welcome!

 
Dear participants,

Thank you for your willingness  to participate in the questionnaire of the OMERACT Chronic Pain Special Interest Group (SIG).
We want to develop a Core outcome set. This is a set of patient reported parameters which researchers are invited to use consistently in their studies in order to estimate potential success of a therapeutic intervention.

The aim of the survey is to define the scope of a potential Core Outcome Set (COS) for Chronic Pain in patients living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) by gathering your experience and opinions regarding:
- The nature and relevance of chronic pain in patients with RMDs
- The potential population of sufferers with RMDs
- The impact of chronic pain on quality of life versus the other features of RMDs
- The importance of specific treatments and further research questions regarding chronic pain in patients with RMDs

Based on the results the Chronic Pain SIG will decide if a specific COS for RMDs within OMERACT will be necessary and if existing COS recommendations in the field of chronic pain will be considered and/or expanded.
 
The results will be discussed at an internationale meeting of several clinicians, researchers and patients at OMERACT 18 in Australia in May 2018. Next steps arising from your input will be scheduled there.

The questionnaire will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.  You will also need to complete the whole survey at once otherwise your entries will be lost if you leave the survey before it is completed.

There will be questions marked with a small star (*): you will need to answer those questions completely to be able to proceed.
Please note our definitions:

for musculoskeletal/rheumatic disease: Rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) are a diverse group of diseases that commonly affect the joints, but can also affect the muscles, other tissues and internal organs. There are hundreds of different RMDs, affecting both children and adults. They are usually caused by problems of the immune system, inflammation, infections or gradual deterioration of joints, muscle and bones. Many of these diseases are long term and worsen over time. They are typically painful and limit function. In severe cases, RMDs can result in significant disability, having a major impact on both quality of life and life expectancy.

Chronic pain is continuous, long-term pain of more than 12 weeks or after the time that healing would have been thought to have occurred in pain after trauma or surgery.  Chronic pain affects people in different ways, from continuous pain to pain that comes and goes. Chronic pain can also vary in intensity. 

We appreciate your time and consideration in completing this survey. Thank you for participating.

For questions and concerns please contact us via ulrike.kaiser.usc-tkl@uniklinikum-dresden.de.

Kind regards,
Philip Mease, Ernest Choy, Lee Simon (leads)
Mary Cowern, Bill Hogan, Michael Gill and Maarten de Wit (PRPs)
Ulrike Kaiser (coordinator)
On behalf of the OMERACT Chronic Pain Working Group

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