Pain Quality Study

Pain Quality in Individuals With Low Back Pain, Headache, and Fibromyalgia

One way to better understand how various treatments for pain differ is to determine the effects of these treatments on different pain qualities or characteristics. For example, pain can be described as "hot", "electrical", "cold", "achy", and "piercing." In order to determine which pain quality/qualities that a pain treatment affects, researchers must develop measures of these pain qualities or characteristics. The purpose of this study is to learn more about the different pain qualities individuals who have low back pain, headaches and fibromyalgia experience. Identifying the common qualities of pain experienced by these groups will help researchers evaluate and develop more comprehensive pain quality measures, which will ultimately help them to be able to test the effectiveness of treatments for these different pain qualities.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Speaks and understands English;
• At least 18 years of age;
• Confirms a diagnosis from a physician or certified medical provider of one of the three medical conditions (low back pain, headache, fibromyalgia), and that pain related to this diagnosis is still bothersome.
• Has experienced bothersome pain associated with their diagnosis in the past three months of a sufficient intensity;
• English is their first and primary language.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals would be excluded if they have more than one of the three pain diagnoses to be studied.