Typically, pain is measured by intensity and sensory characteristics. Although intensity is one of the most common dimensions of pain assessment, it has been suggested that measuring pain intensity in isolation is only capturing part of the pain experience and may not lead to an accurate measurement of how pain impacts a child’s daily functioning. The current study aimed to develop a measure that would capture pain intensity along with frequency and duration in a clinical sample of youth diagnosed with chronic pain. The pain-frequency-severity-duration (PFSD) scale was developed and data were collected from a multidisciplinary pain clinic at a large, midwestern children’s hospital. Validated measures of functional limitations and health related quality of life were also collected. Significant correlations were found between the PFSD composite score, functional limitations, and health related quality of life. Future research should continue to evaluate this questionnaire utilizing other validated pain measures and other areas potentially impacted by chronic pain and with more diverse samples. This initial finding suggests that the PFSD is a convenient self-reported measure and is strongly related to health related quality of life and functional disability. 1. Introduction Idiopathic chronic pain is persistent pain, lasting longer than three months, that does not serve as a somatic warning sign of tissue damage or injury [1]. It is estimated that one in five children in the United States is affected by chronic pain [1]. Typically, pain is measured by its intensity and sensory characteristics (e.g., location and pattern, including frequency and duration) [2]. Specifically, pain frequency, severity/intensity, and duration are often assessed simultaneously at medical appointments and during hospital visits. Self-reported pain intensity continues to be the most widely used measurement of a child’s pain [3]. Although intensity is the most common dimension of pain assessment, von Baeyer has suggested that measuring pain intensity alone is only capturing part of the clinical picture [4, 5]. Given that pain is typically thought of as a subjective experience, having an accurate measurement of pain intensity does not guarantee an accurate measurement of how that pain impacts a child’s daily functioning. For example, two youths may report similar intensity of pain on a 10 point scale; however, one youth may limit social and physical involvement while the other continues to engage in daily activities with minimal impairment. Therefore, it is important to have a pain
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