The revised International Association for the Study of Pain definition of pain: concepts, challenges, and compromises.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Expert consensus task force and narrative review with no empirical clinical trial or experimental data.
PubMed 32694387 · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001939
What was done
In 2018, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) formed a 14-member multinational Presidential Task Force composed of clinical and basic science pain experts. Over a 2-year period, the task force evaluated the 1979 IASP pain definition, analyzed comments from the IASP membership and the public, and drafted updated recommendations for the definition and its accompanying notes.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical or experimental data. The task force recommended revising the 1979 definition to: "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage," with updated bulleted explanatory notes including etymology. These revisions were unanimously adopted by the IASP Council in 2020.
Why it matters
This paper establishes the first official update since 1979 to the widely used global definition of pain, broadening it to better capture pain experiences that lack identifiable tissue injury.
Limits
The paper reflects expert committee consensus and conceptual synthesis rather than an empirical trial. The abstract provides no quantitative breakdown of public or member feedback, nor does it test the clinical utility or diagnostic impact of the revised wording.
Cited by
- supports Pain signals typically begin well before actual tissue damage occurs, particularly in chronic overuse injuries.