Division of Basic Medical Research Research Project on Elucidation of Chronic Pain

While investigation of the actual conditions of pain is called for, research into pain assessment methods must also be advanced to allow healthcare professionals and patients themselves to gain multidimensional and multifactorial understandings of pain and to develop techniques that will be useful for providing team-based medical care.

Medical institutions and scientific societies should take the lead in accumulating scientific evidence and establishing treatment standards recommended on the basis of such evidence. Successful achievement depends on the promotion of research aimed at solving current problems by focusing on such areas as the establishment of methods for epidemiological survey and pain assessment, elucidation of the pathological condition of treatment-resistant pain, development of a method for diagnosing treatment-resistant pain, development of new treatment drugs and safe and effective therapeutic methods, preparation of treatment guidelines and flow charts for diagnostic and treatment purposes, and creation of educational materials.

(Source: Future Measures for Chronic Pain Control [recommendation])