Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine > Part II. Pain: General Principles and Evaluation > Chapter 7. Outcome Measurements in Pain Medicine Harriët Wittink, Leonidas C. Goudas, Scott Strassels, and Daniel B. Carr

Outcome Measurements in Pain Medicine: Introduction

"Central to the evaluation of health care is the measurement of health. Until the first part of the twentieth century, health was defined as the absence of disease and was measured in terms of morbidity and mortality. This simple approach to health status was rejected in 1948 with the expansion of the concept of health by the World Health Organization (WHO), which defined health as, "A state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."¹ This definition reflected the multidimensionality of health and considered not only biologic markers, but also the ability to perform physically, psychologically, and socially in the everyday environment...."