About the Pain Working Group
Pain is a prevailing and common symptom across rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD). Clinically, acute and chronic pain are distinct, are managed differently, and have differences in outcomes. The majority of people who experience acute pain tend to improve spontaneously or under treatment, but some individuals progress to a chronic pain that can cause considerable physical, emotional, and socioeconomic burdens. To identify preventive or effectively tailored interventions, standardized pain assessment in clinical trials is essential to making precise estimates on the effectiveness of interventions.
To establish a research agenda for harmonizing pain assessment in clinical trials in RMD, information is needed regarding:
1) The importance of chronic pain in patients with RMD;
2) To what extent patients with chronic pain and RMD feel different from patients with chronic pain of other origin;
3) Whether the pain experience is different across RMD;
4) The existing pain recommendations in COS for RMD;
5) To what extent pain measurement differs across RMD;
6) The relative contribution of different pain mechanisms (e.g., central sensitization, neuropathic pain) to the patient’s experience of pain

Ernest Choy
Co-Chair

Philip Mease
Co-Chair

Lee Simon
Co-Chair
Working Group Publications
Dialogue on Developing Consensus on Measurement and Presentation of Patient-important Outcomes, Using Pain Outcomes as an Exemplar, in Systematics Reviews: A Preconference Meeting at OMERACT 12
Current State of Reporting Pain Outcomes in Cochrane Reviews of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions and Considerations for an OMERACT Research Agenda
Harmonizing Pain Outcome Measures: results of the Pre-OMERACT Meeting on Partnerships for Consensus on Patient-important Pain Outcome Domain Between the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group and OMERACT
Is chronic Pain a Disease in its Own Right? Discussions from a Pre-OMERACT 2014 Workshop on Chronic Pain
A Call for Evidence-based Decision Making When Selecting Outcome Measurement Instruments for Summary of Findings Tables in Systematic Reviews: Results from an OMERACT Working Group
Optimal Strategies for Reporting Pain in Clinical Trials and Systematic Reviews: Recommendations from a 2014 OMERACT Workshop
Consensus on the Need for a Hierarchical List of Patient-Reported Pain Outcomes for Meta-Analyses of Knee Osteoarthritis Trials: an OMERACT objective
Working Group Members:
Alena Pechonkina
Alessandro Chiarotto
Amanda Burls
Andrea Doria
Andrew Moore
Angie Botto-van Bemden
Ann Taylor
Anna Maniccia
Anne-Priscille Trouvin
Aya Akmal Amin
B Robert Mozayeni
Ben Horgan
Bradley Johnston
Caitlin Jones
Caroline Terwee
Chian Kwoh
Clesmanya Silva Pereira
Clifton (Bing) Bingham
Codruta Zabalan
Damir Sapunar
Dario Scublinsky
David Tovey
Deb Constien
Denise Bury
Dorcas Beaton
Edyta Biernat-Kaluza
Ernest Choy
Gary Choque
Geoffrey Littlejohn
George Wells
Gordon Guyatt
Ilfita Sahbudin
ingrid de groot
Inna Gaydukova
Jane Hayes
Janet Wyatt
Jason Busse
Jasvinder Singh
John Farrar
Justin Taylor
Kent Chian Kwoh
Khaled Abdelgalil
Kristina Harris
Kristine Phillips
Krystyne King
Kushang Patel
Lara Maxwell
laura sergison
Laure Gossec
Lee Simon
Linda Nelsen
Lyn March
Lynne Matallana
Maarten Boers
Maarten de Wit
Maja Radojcic
Maria Suarez-Almazor
Marios Kouloumas
Mary Cowern
Mary Holland
Maxime Dougados
Maxine Isbel
Mayuredh Pathak
Michael Gill
Nino Tsiskarishvili
Niti Goel
Patricia Hurley
Paula Williamson
Peter Juni
Peter Tugwell
Philip Conaghan
Philip Mease
Phyllis Bass
Rachelle Buchbinder
Randall Stevens
Raouf Hajji
Rashed Toticell
Raymond Ostelo
Robin Christensen
Saurab Sharma
Shannan OHara-lwvi
Shawna Grosskleg
Simon Decary
Simon Stones
Stacey Grealis
Stuart O'Sullivan
Susan Bartlett
Takako Kaneyasu
Tamer Gheita
Tania Elena Gudu
Tim Pickles
Tuncay Duruoz
Ulrike Kaiser
Vibeke Strand
Win Min Oo