Developing consensus on the most important equity-relevant items to include in pain research: a modified e-Delphi study

There is increasing recognition of the need for routine measurement and reporting of data that can reveal social factors that contribute to health inequities for people with pain. Prioritising what data to collect and understanding how to collect it can be challenging, and no clear guidance exists. We conducted a 3-round Delphi study to develop consensus on the most important items to include in a minimum dataset of equity-relevant variables. An international panel of experts and interest-holders were invited to participate based on expertise in pain, social determinants of health and health equity, or a lived experience of persistent pain. In round 1, 168 participants rated the importance of an initial set of 43 equity-relevant items and categorised them according to the PROGRESS-Plus Framework. Twenty-nine items reached agreement for inclusion (based on a threshold of panel median of ≥7 of 9); none of the items were excluded. Participant comments were collated, and 21 new items were proposed. In round 2, 152 participants (90% of round 1) voted on 35 items, 25 of which reached agreement for inclusion. In round 3, 142 participants (93% of round 2) prioritised the 54 items that reached the threshold for inclusion within each category and rated the PROGRESS-Plus category importance. Our results indicated consistent agreement that it is important to collect data on a wide range of social factors and provide rich data to inform the development of a consensus-derived, globally applicable, "minimum dataset" that will be recommended for routine use in all human pain research.