The Dallas Pain Questionnaire

What is the Dallas Pain Questionnaire?

The Dallas Pain Questionnaire is a diagnostic tool used by health care providers to better assess and classify an individual’s low back pain. It consists of 16 questions. The questionnaire provides physicians with information about how back pain affects daily function, work and social activities, and emotional health. The questions fall into four categories:

• Daily activities
• Work and leisure
• Social interest
• Anxiety/depression

Each question asks the responder to rate their experience with different activities using a percentage scale from 0% to 100%. The questions focus on the degree to which back pain limits personal care activities, affects sleep, interferes with work, evokes feelings of depression, affects relationships with others, etc.

What are the benefits of using the Dallas Pain Questionaire?

The Dallas Pain Questionnaire is a short and simple way to assess and classify low back pain and its effect on lifestyle, work life, social activity, and emotional health.

The questionnaire can be periodically given to assess improvement and the effectiveness of treatments.

A complete version of the Dallas Pain Questionnaire can be viewed at Osteoarthritis Research Society International’s website at https://www.oarsi.org/sites/default/files/docs/2019/dallas_pain_questionnaire_complete.pdf.