What Doctors Should Ask Their Patients About Pain

Many patients do not tell their doctors how much pain they are in, so “doctors generally should approach patients in pain with the assumption that underreporting is a real likelihood,” says Russell Portenoy, MD, chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. In this video, Dr. Portenoy explains that physicians should ask their patients specific, probing questions about their pain and how it impacts on all aspects of their life.