Pain assessment: the relationship between pain thresholds and pain severity in osteoarthritis

Objectives When pain is assessed in research, it is most commonly assessed using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS). These measures can provide information about pain severity, distress and qualities, but they are unable to provide information about the underlying mechanisms contributing to pain perception. Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) comprises non-invasive tests which can identify abnormalities in pain processing on a localised and widespread level. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the measurement of pain thresholds by two different QST methods and the measurement of pain severity by a validated PROM.