Description

Chronic pain is a symptom shared by many musculoskeletal conditions, even when disease management is optimized. Musculoskeletal pathologies are reported to be an essential therapeutic target in pain management. However, these pathologies often do not adequately explain the pain or the reason for its persistence.

Central sensitization is the increased sensitivity of Central Nervous System (CNS) neurons to a standard nociceptive input. Pain that increases in intensity and distribution beyond that explained by musculoskeletal pathology has been termed "nociplastic pain." Measuring these CNS aspects of pain is a prerequisite for understanding their mechanistic basis and predicting future pain and responses to treatment. Chronic pain is associated with CNS dysfunction in several areas, including depression, anxiety, pain catastrophizing, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbance, and fatigue. Considering the increasing importance of assessing mood-related pain (nociplastic pain) The "CAP questionnaire," developed by modifying the CAP-Knee questionnaire to assess potential nociplastic pain features in painful musculoskeletal disorders, has been described.