Abstract
Quality of life can be substantially affected by pain. While many pain control options are available, analgesics are the most common, and usually most effective, method used to manage moderate to severe pain. There are, however, potential adverse effects of these drugs that may reduce patients' willingness to take their analgesics as prescribed. Both pain and the modalities used to manage it can impact patients' quality of life. Quality of life measurements can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of pain treatment, and guide the selection of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic therapies. A variety of instruments, developed from two different measurement approaches (psychometric and decision-making or economic) is available to measure quality of life. This article discusses the applications, dimensions, and benefits of psychometric and decision-making models and potential uses in evaluating pain therapies.