Pain

Anchoring Vignettes for Pain

Questions:

  1. How much was [name of person] limited in the kind or amount of work he/she could do?
Response categories:
  1. None
  2. Mild
  3. Moderate
  4. Severe
  5. Extreme/Cannot Do

Vignettes:

  1. [Katie] occasionally feels back pain at work, but this has not happened for the last several months now. If she feels back pain, it typically lasts only for a few days.

  2. [Catherine] suffers from back pain that causes stiffness in her back especially at work but is relieved with low doses of medication. She does not have any pains other than this generalized discomfort.

  3. [Yvonne] has almost constant pain in her back and this sometimes prevents her from doing her work.

  4. [Jim] has back pain that makes changes in body position while he is working very uncomfortable. He is unable to stand or sit for more than half an hour. Medicines decrease the pain a little, but it is there all the time and interferes with his ability to carry out even day to day tasks at work.

  5. [Mark] has pain in his back and legs, and the pain is present almost all the time. It gets worse while he is working. Although medication helps, he feels uncomfortable when moving around , holding and lifting things at work.