Relationship between the perceived burden of suffering and the observed quality of ADL task performance before and after a 12-week pain management programme

Background/objective Constant pain causes suffering and affects performance of activities of daily living (ADL). In clients with chronic musculoskeletal pain, we wanted to determine (i) the relationship between the perceived burden of suffering (measured with the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure (PRISM)) and the observed quality of ADL task performance (measured with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS)); and (ii) the change in these assessments before and after a 12-week pain programme. Methods In this cross-sectional cohort study, we retrospectively collected data from participants in a Swiss pain management programme. We calculated the relationship, correlations and effect sizes for the PRISM and AMPS using non-parametric tests. We set the level of significance at alpha = 0.05. Results Out of 138 clients, 74 participated. We found no significant correlations between the PRISM and AMPS (p = 0.55-0.36), except for the PRISM and AMPS process ability measure after the pain management programme (p = 0.023). Pre-post-correlations of the AMPS and PRISM were significant, with medium to strong effect sizes (-0.48-0.66). Conclusion Participation in this pain programme improved both, the PRISM and AMPS scores. The lack of correlation between these assessments in clients with chronic musculoskeletal pain, however, strongly argues for a thorough clinical assessment.