American Chronic Pain Assoc. Quality of Life Scale | Arthritis Information
ACPA Quality of Life Scale
Chronic pain has an impact on your life as well as your body. The ACPA Quality of Life Scale can help you and your health care team to more accurately evaluate your condition and track your progress over time.
Many pain scales now in use focus on pain---on how much and where you hurt. But we know that the experience of pain is a highly personal and relative thing. The ACPA feels that its important to look at not just your level of pain but also on how much that pain limits your ability to live a full life.
The Quality of Life Scale considers your ability to participate in work, family, and social activities. We hope it will be useful to you both as a way to track your own progress and as a communication tool with family, care givers, and others.
Please feel free to download and print it to share with your doctor and other members of your medical team.
Click here to open the ACPA Quality of Life Scale in PDF format.
This is really helpful. Thank you so much.
After having RA for a few years, i have found it is easy to doubt yourself and start wondering if you are really a bit of a wimp and a bit of a complainer. Suck it up, kind of thing.
When having a good day, it is easy to think 'well maybe I was overreacting - it wasn't that bad' etc. The different levels on this scale give a very real measure of how one is really doing that day or that week or whatever.
Excellent post, Marigold. That's exactly how I feel.
Lynn, thanks for posting this. An in-hospital version of this
Life Scale, complimented by PT assessment, a neuro-psychological evaluation, and observations by other hospital staff was the basis for enhanced pain-control by my physicians.
I urge everyone to keep a daily journal, including at least one such scale, and take it to your doctors appointments.
Best wishes for pain-control and optimized quality of life! Shug
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