SPS guidelines and tools

On this page you will find guidelines and resources on the subject of “Chronic pain”.

– AWMF-Leiltinien (German)
– HAS recommendation (French)
– EFIC Position and Opinion Papers (English)
– Chronische neuropathische Schmerzen (German) (SIG Neuropathic Pain)

On the Move is a call to healthcare professionals to advise their patients on the importance of physical activity and its role in the prevention, treatment and management of chronic pain.

  • Knowledge,
  • Motivation,
  • Empowerment (using language that patients understand),
  • Environment (physical) that facilitates change, and
  • Realistic planning

are all crucial to achieving this.

Learn more about the campaign

Plain Talking addresses health literacy, which is the ability to access, understand, and use information to promote and maintain good health. The campaign is targeted at both clinicians (and other professionals) and people living with pain, helping the latter understand and actively manage their health. It focuses on improving communication between people living with pain and healthcare professionals by developing a series of materials and useful resources for all.

Learn more about the campaign

The Numerical Rating Scale NRS is a standard in pain assessment and also easy to use for documentation.

Numerical series from 0 to 10: 0 means no pain, 10 means worst pain imaginable. You can ask for the average, lowest, strongest, and current pain level.

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For patients who have difficulty with the numbers, the Verbal Rating Scale VRS is a good choice:

no pain / little / moderate / strong / strongest pain imaginable

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A combination of the two scales can be found in the variant shown below

Source: Messung der Schmerzstärke (schmerzgesellschaft.de)

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For patients with limited cognition or communication, ECPA can be used very well:

ECPA-questionnaire (PDF) (german)
HUG ECPA-questionnaire (PDF) (french)