Brief Pain Inventory

What it measures

The most widely used measure of pain severity and pain-related interference with daily functioning in clinical research. Originally developed for cancer pain but validated across diverse chronic pain conditions. Pain severity captures worst, least, average, and current pain; interference captures impact on function, mood, sleep, and enjoyment of life.

Response format

Numeric rating scales (0–10); pain severity = mean of 4 items; pain interference = mean of 7 items

Representative items

• Please rate your pain by marking the box beside the number that best describes your pain at its WORST in the past 24 hours. (0=no pain to 10=pain as bad as you can imagine)
• Please rate your pain by marking the box beside the number that best describes your AVERAGE pain.
• In the past 24 hours, how much has pain interfered with your general activity?
• In the past 24 hours, how much has pain interfered with your mood?
• In the past 24 hours, how much has pain interfered with your sleep?

Usage notes & scoring

Pain Severity score = mean of items 3a–3d (range 0–10). Pain Interference score = mean of items 9a–9g (range 0–10). Freely available from Charles Cleeland's MD Anderson group. Validated in 15+ languages. Standard outcome measure in pain clinical trials and palliative care.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Cleeland, C.S., & Ryan, K.M. (1994). Pain assessment: Global use of the Brief Pain Inventory. Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 23(2), 129–138.

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