Objectives: Identify characteristics of the pain that may contribute to an item pool for a self-report PDAP adjunctive diagnostic instrument and to understand the biopsychosocial impact of PDAP on individuals.
Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of patients diagnosed with PDAP (n=20) using accepted criteria. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data collection and analysis was iterative following the principles of the constant comparative method. Two independent researchers were involved the analysis of the data and generation of theory.
Results: Ten recurring characteristics of the reported pain were identified from the data, which will help inform an item pool for a PDAP diagnostic self-report instrument. The biopsychosocial impact of the condition was wide spread and reported to affect many different aspects of the patients’ daily lives: mood, employment, social activities, sexual intimacy.
Conclusions: The recurring characteristics of the pain require further multicentre and multicultural testing to demonstrate their validity and reliability as an adjunct to diagnosing PDAP. The biopsychosocial impact of the condition suggests that quality of life measures may be helpful in, and form part of, assessing treatment outcome.