Pain is the most common presenting complaint at an impairment evaluation. Pain is discussed in Chapter 15, which includes an approach to understanding impairment due to chronic pain. In the Guides, the term chronic pain is synonymous with chronic pain syndrome.
There is a distinction between pain of longstanding duration, referred to in the Guides as persistent pain, and chronic pain syndrome, characterized as “the devastating and recalcitrant type [of pain] with major psychosocial consequences” (4th ed., 306). According to the Guides, “persistent pain may exist in the absence of chronic pain [syndrome], but chronic pain [syndrome] always presumes the presence of persistent pain” (4th ed., 306). Chapter 15 focuses on chronic pain syndrome, rather than persistent pain. By way of example, a person with persistent pain due to radiculopathy will have the rating for pain...
