Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Research Scholarships - Master's program

Chronic pain affects many individuals, and is often difficult to measure accurately, especially in acute settings. Most existing tools in use only ask about pain intensity, even though chronic pain is multidimensional affecting functioning, emotions, and quality of life as well. This leads to misunderstandings between patient and doctors that may result in suboptimal care. To address this gap, I developed the Brief Web Chronic Pain Scale (BWCPS), a short multidimensional pain assessment tool that measures several different important aspects of chronic pain including pain intensity, frequency, functional ability, quality of life, and mood. There are 4 sections to the questionnaire, one being demographic information, two being the BWCPS, three being patient satisfaction, and lastly healthcare provider satisfaction. Early testing has shown that patients found it simple, and it could successfully distinguish between people with diagnosed chronic pain, and not. My MSc research will further test this tool in a hospital and primary care setting. During my research I will examine how well it works compared to existing tools. Patients, pain specialists and researchers will also take part in a structured, multi-round Delphi survey to refine the scale and ensure it accurately reflects the experiences of chronic pain. By the end of this research, I am to produce a validated, easy to use assessment tool that helps patients communicate their pain more clearly and supports healthcare providers in making better treatment decisions. This project has the potential to improve pain care and reduce misunderstandings in acute fast paced environments.