Comparing what the clinician draws on a digital pain map to that of persons who have greater trochanteric pain syndrome

Abstract

Abstract Objectives To assess the agreements and differences in pain drawings (pain area, shape and location) between individuals who have greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS) and their clinician. Methods In this study, 23 patients with GTPS (21 female, pain duration range 8–24 months) underwent clinical evaluation by a registered physiotherapist. Digital 2d full body pain drawings were independently performed by the clinician during the subjective examination and by the patient following the physical examination. Levels of agreement [LoA] in the pain area were assessed with Bland–Altman plots. Differences in pain drawings were assessed visually by overlaying images, and by quantifying the differences in shape and location with the bounding box, and Jaccard index, respectively. Results Pain areas (/total pixels of the charts) did not differ in size (LoA mean difference less than −0.5%; range −2.35–1.56%) or shape (bounding box p>0.17). However, there was minimal overlap in location (Jaccard index range 0.09–0.18/1 for perfect overlap). Conclusions Patients and the clinician displayed differences in location of pain areas, but not size or shape, when they independently performed digital pain drawings. The reasons that underlie and the clinical impact of these differences remains unclear.