Harmonization of pain scores — interesting and relevant findings

Imagine an international collaborative project preparing a mission to the Moon, with each project partner using its own system to express velocity, length, weight, etc. — the project is inevitably doomed to failure. Yet this is exactly what we do in the health sciences — we use a wide range of measures for pain, functional status, fatigue, depression, and other health outcomes. In the natural sciences, the problem of countries and cities using their own systems of measurement was largely solved by the introduction of the International System of Units (SI) 1 International Bureau of Weights and MeasuresThe International System of Units (SI). Sèvres Cedex: Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, 2019 Google Scholar , which has greatly facilitated scientific communication and exchange. Correspondingly, in the health sciences significant progress is being made in standardizing what to measure, how to measure, and in which units to measure 2 International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM). [Available from:www.ichom.org.]. Google Scholar , 3 Williamson P.R. Altman D.G. Bagley H. Barnes K.L. Blazeby J.M. Brookes S.T. et al. The COMET Handbook: version 1.0. Trials. 2017; 18: 280 Crossref PubMed Scopus (941) Google Scholar , 4 Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments. [Available from:www.cosmin.nl.]. Google Scholar , 5 Terwee C.B. Bot S.D. de Boer M.R. van der Windt D.A. Knol D.L. Dekker J. et al. Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. J Clin Epidemiol. 2007; 60: 34-42 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6442) Google Scholar , 6 Alonso J. Bartlett S.J. Rose M. Aaronson N.K. Chaplin J.E. Efficace F. et al. The case for an international patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS®) initiative. Health Qual Life Outcome. 2013; 11: 210 Crossref PubMed Scopus (116) Google Scholar , 7 OMERACT. [Available from: https://omeract.org/.]. Google Scholar . Yet the problem of heterogeneity still exists, and this situation is likely to continue for some time.