Table 1.
Potential items of importance to question/assess before initiating pain neuroscience education for pain following cancer (and information needed to individually tailor the education).
| Item | Mode of assessment |
|---|---|
| Past cancer & pain treatment | Questioning + medical record screening |
| Current cancer & pain treatment | Questioning + medical record screening |
| Premorbid pain | Questioning + medical record screening |
| Pain evolution | Questioning |
| Pain location | Pain drawing88, 89 |
| Pain history, including possible pain memories | Questioning + medical record screening |
| Scar tissues | Clinical examination including inspection, palpation and possible movement investigation |
| Musculoskeletal system | Clinical examination including inspection, palpation and possible movement investigation |
| Pain beliefs/perceptions: – Interpretation of pain by the patient – Personal beliefs about provoking factors – Personal beliefs about etiology of pain – Beliefs about how long the pain will last/anticipated course – Beliefs about the consequences of the pain on life – Beliefs about the extent of which the patient thinks he can control the (course of the) pain – The extent to which one understands the pain – Influence of the pain on once mood |
Questioning and/or (brief) Illness Perceptions Questionnaire90, 91, 92 |
| Pain coping strategy | Questioning and/or a pain coping questionnaire (e.g. Pain-Coping Inventory,93 the Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory94) |
| Pain catastrophizing | Pain Catastrophizing Scale24, 25 |
| Pain-related fear | Fear of pain questionnaire95 |
| Pain-related fear of movement | Tampa Scale Kinesiophobia96 |
| Avoidance of pain and cognitive fusion with pain | Psychology Inflexibility in Pain Scale97 |
| Anxiety | State and Trait Anxiety Inventory98 |
| Depression | Beck Depression Inventory99 or Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale100 |
| Pain acceptance, i.e. the extent to which they accept their pain | History taking or chronic pain acceptance questionnaire101 |
| Pain (hyper)vigilance | Pain vigilance and awareness questionnaire102 |
| Perceived injustice | Injustice experience questionnaire37 |
| Social support | Questioning |