Application of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System to Chronic Pelvic Pain

Abstract

Study Objectives To apply the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) recently developed by the National Institutes of Health in patients with chronic pelvic pain. Secondary objectives included evaluation of individual pain categories and of the effect of the occurrence of myofascial abdominal wall and pelvic floor muscle pain. Design Retrospective study (Canadian Task Force classification III). Setting Chronic pelvic pain multidisciplinary referral center. Patients A total of 149 consecutive patients with chronic pelvic pain provided evaluable results. Interventions As part of a comprehensive evaluation, patients were assigned diagnoses based on standard criteria, and completed the 96-item short-form PROMIS. Measurements and Main Results Pain-related and global PROMIS scores were significantly worse than in the reference population (p <.05). The presence of myofascial pain was also associated with worse PROMIS scores. Conclusion Chronic pelvic pain is associated with impaired quality of life regardless of the diagnosis, including myofascial pain.