Linguistic Validation of Chronic Pain medical questionnaires

What is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain can be defined as any pain lasting more than 12 weeks. Unlike acute pain – a normal sensation that alerts us to possible injury, chronic pain persists, often for months or even longer.

What are the causes if Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain may arise from an initial injury, such as a back sprain, or there may be an ongoing cause, such as illness. However, there may also be no clear cause. Other health problems, such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, decreased appetite, and mood changes, often accompany chronic pain. Chronic pain may limit a person’s movements, which can reduce flexibility, strength, and stamina. This difficulty in carrying out important and enjoyable activities can lead to disability and despair. For example, some conditions which may fall withing the chronic pain category are chronic migraine, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, and even any form of arthritis, just to name a few.

What do we do?

We were commissioned to carry out a linguistic validation project of  a medical questionnaire on Chronic Pain into, which requires the adaptation of the original questionnaire written in US English into UK English. In order to validate the adaptation, the next step is to interview sufferers of this condition with the aim of discussing the language and the wording used of the questionnaire in order to ensure the questionnaire is understood by the wide British public, regardless of their educational background.

We know how uncomfortable such a condition can be, which is why we need your help. We are inviting Chronic Pain sufferers to volunteer for such interviews, and in return, you will be rewarded with £20 for your time. These interviews are totally anonymous and NO personal details are needed, except for your age, occupation and study level, required for statistical purposes.

What will happen during the interview?

All interviews must be recorded, in order to ensure the interviewee’s responses are accurately reported. Questionnaires may take between 30 – 60 mins to complete.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us using the details below. We look forward to hearing from you!

Poster Calling Chronic Pain sufferers