The relationship of PROMIS pain interference and physical function scales

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are the most used clinical tool to assess the effectiveness of interventions on patients’ subjective general health, daily function, pain, and quality of life. But these measures have some limitations. To improve the PROs, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) developed two Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF) CAT and Pain Interference (PI) CAT. In this retrospective, study author compared both the PROMIS Pain Interference and Physical Function Scales and suggested that the PROMIS PI has used as an essential adjunct measure of physical function in patients with spinal pain.

At a university spine center, a study conducted to investigate the association between the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF) and PROMIS Pain Interference (PI) scales among patients with spinal pain.

The prospectively collected patient-reported outcome data analyzed retrospectively. The association of the PROMIS PI and PROMIS PF scores were done using Pearson correlation. Race, age, and gender were examined by subgroups on the PROMIS PI and PF scores. Predictive connections were examined by conducting linear regression and setting of statistical significance was done at P < 0.05.

The assessment was completed by a total of 1,992 patients of 52.8 years mean age with 1,927performing the PI CAT and 1,923 the PF CAT. Correlation analysis of the PROMIS PI with the PROMIS PF exhibited a Pearson correlation value of -0.717. The PI CAT and PF CAT presented a robust linear correlation with a high negative relationship. The PI CAT estimated the PF CAT scores.

A strong negative association between self-reported PI and PF linked to social, mental, and physical health was seen among patients with spinal pain. The predictive connection of function from pain scores encourages the PROMIS PI being employed as an essential addition measure of physical function among patients with spinal pain.