Pijn meten is nuttig en iedere arts kan het: 7 tips

• Pain is one of the main factors influencing quality of life; its incidence is higher than is generally assumed.
• Pain is not spontaneously reported in all cases; it should be asked about more often.
• Not measuring pain is one of the main reasons for inadequate pain treatment.
• Pain should be assessed and recorded more routinely in both primary and secondary healthcare. This can be done in simple and quick ways.
• Self-reporting using a visual-analogue scale or numeric rating scale is the preferred method. This can be done even by patients with a mild cognitive disorder.
• Several simple and reliable observational scales exist for patients who cannot report well, e.g. elderly patients with a cognitive disorder or young children.
• For chronic pain, the low-threshold use of a multi-dimensional scale will increase the likelihood of successful treatment.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.