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Add pain related value sets #10

@cmungall

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@cmungall

cc @wdduncan

OPPERA is a gold mine for building value sets that could be standardized in a linkml/valuesets repo. Since OPPERA was designed with reproducibility and harmonization in mind, it already overlaps heavily with NIH Pain CDEs, PROMIS, and ontology-based measures (e.g., from Pain Ontology, ICF, NCIt, HPO).

Here’s a structured proposal of key value sets from OPPERA that would be broadly reusable:

🔑 Core Candidate Value Sets from OPPERA

  1. Pain Intensity & Frequency

Scales: 0–10 Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Value set: integers 0–10, plus categorical ranges (none / mild / moderate / severe)

Ontology alignment:

PAIN:0000010 (pain intensity) [Pain Ontology]

LOINC:38208-5 (Pain severity - 0-10 numeric rating scale)

  1. Pain Duration / Chronicity

Values: acute (<3 months), sub-acute (3–6 months), chronic (>6 months), persistent, intermittent

Ontology alignment:

HPO:0030813 (chronic pain)

SNOMEDCT:373930000 (Acute pain)

  1. Pain Locations (Body Sites)

Values: jaw/face, head, neck, back, abdomen, extremities (used in OPPERA comorbidity questionnaires)

Ontology alignment:

FMA / UBERON for body regions

Pain Ontology for site-specific pain (e.g., PAIN:0000014 orofacial pain)

NCIt for TMD and related disorders

  1. Pain Quality Descriptors (from MPQ / OPPERA surveys)

Values: throbbing, aching, stabbing, burning, tingling, pressure, cramping

Ontology alignment:

McGill Pain Questionnaire terms

HPO:0030827 (burning pain)

HPO:0025195 (throbbing headache)

Pain Ontology classes for quality

  1. Pain-Related Disability / Interference

Values: “no limitation”, “mild limitation”, “moderate limitation”, “severe limitation” (from GCPS, Jaw Function Limitation Scale)

Ontology alignment:

PROMIS Pain Interference Bank

ICF (International Classification of Functioning) categories

  1. Psychosocial Constructs

(from OPPERA psychosocial battery: depression, anxiety, catastrophizing, somatization, perceived stress)

Values: instrument-specific scales (e.g., PCS total: 0–52; CES-D cutoff values)

Ontology alignment:

PROMIS domain ontologies (via NCIt / CDEs)

HPO:0030832 (anxiety)

HPO:0030830 (depressed mood)

  1. Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST)

Values: stimulus modality (heat, cold, pressure, electrical), thresholds (numeric, continuous)

Ontology alignment:

OBI for experimental assays

Pain Ontology: PAIN:0000042 (thermal pain sensitivity)

  1. Autonomic Measures

(e.g., startle response categories, heart rate variability bins)

Values: “exaggerated startle”, “normal startle”, “no response”

Ontology alignment:

OBI / NCIt for startle reflex assays

HPO:0000752 (abnormal startle response)

🌐 Integration with Pain Ontology

The Pain Ontology (PaOn, OBO Foundry) already has many high-level terms for pain type, quality, intensity, duration.

Best practice:

Use Pain Ontology for pain-specific semantics.

Use HPO/NCIt/UBERON for comorbidities, phenotypes, body sites.

Use PROMIS & NIH Pain CDE mappings for scales and instruments.

📦 Suggested Value Sets for linkml/valuesets

Here are ready-to-package value sets from OPPERA:

Pain Intensity Scale (0–10)

Pain Duration Categories (acute / subacute / chronic)

Pain Location Body Sites (mapped to UBERON/FMA)

Pain Quality Terms (MPQ-derived)

Disability Categories (none / mild / moderate / severe)

Psychosocial Constructs (PCS, CES-D, PROMIS domains)

QST Modalities (heat, cold, pressure, electrical)

Startle Reflex Categories (normal, exaggerated, absent)

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