ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2022
Discomfort, pain and stiffness: what do these terms mean to patients? A cross-sectional survey with lexical and qualitative analyses.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Optimal resistance training strategies for knee osteoarthritis symptom relief: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Research Hotspots and Emerging Trends of Orthodontic-Related Discomfort and Pain: A Bibliometric Review.Pain research & management · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of gentle mechanical skin stimulation on subjective symptoms and joint range of motions in people with chronic neck and shoulder discomfort.The journal of physiological sciences : JPS · 2023Trial
- Perception-Based Methods and Beyond: A Current Opinion on How to Assess Static Stretching Intensity.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Frequency and severity response scales for pain and discomfort: psychometric insights from EQ-HWB.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Prognostic factors associated with improvement in patients with an episode of non-specific low back pain without radicular syndrome: a prospective observational exploratory study.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2025Observational
- High Amount of Physical Activity on Work Days Is Associated with More Intense Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Nurses: Seven-Day Observational Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- Article
- Investigating force-time characteristics of prone thoracic SMT and self-reported patient outcome measures: a feasibility study.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWhile pain is often the focus of clinical interventions, other clinical outcomes (e.g., discomfort, stiffness) might also contribute to patients' functionality and well-being. Although researchers and clinicians may view discomfort, pain and stiffness as different constructs, it remains unclear how patients perceive and differentiate between these constructs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore patients' perceptions of pain, discomfort, and stiffness.
methodsChiropractic patients were invited to complete an online cross-sectional survey and describe what 'discomfort', 'pain' and 'stiffness' meant to them using their own words. Lexical and inductive qualitative content analyses were conducted independently and then triangulated.
resultsFifty-three chiropractic patients (47.2% female, mean age: 39.1 ± 15.1 years) responded. The most common combinations of words to describe discomfort were "can be ignored" and "less severe than". "Cannot be ignored" and "sharp shooting" were used to describe pain. "Limited range of motion" was used to describe stiffness. Qualitatively, five themes were developed: impact, character, feeling, intensity and temporality. Stiffness was described as limited movement/mobility. Although discomfort and stiffness impacted patients' activities, patients remained functional; pain was described as stopping/limiting activities. Discomfort was described as dull and tingling, pain as sharp and shooting, and stiffness as tight and restricted. Patients felt displeased and annoyed when experiencing discomfort and stiffness but hurt and in danger of harm when experiencing pain. Discomfort and stiffness were described as less intense than pain, with shorter/intermittent duration; however, all constructs could be experienced constantly.
conclusionPatients perceived discomfort, pain and stiffness as different, yet overlapping constructs. This preliminary work advances our knowledge of how patients conceptualize these constructs, contributing to better understanding of what patients mean when reporting these experiences, potentially improving the clinician-patient communication.
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