Common Data Elements (CDEs) Repository

The NIH HEAL Initiative’s Common Data Elements (CDEs) program aims to harmonize the data collected by the initiative’s studies, enhancing the comparability of various data sets generated by HEAL research.  

HEAL researchers and potential applicants conducting research with human participants should also prioritize using the HEAL CDEs. Researchers outside the HEAL Initiative conducting pain research may also be interested in using validated and structured questionnaires.

The 'core' questionnaires in ten domains, demographic information, and opioid usage are required for the human subjects in pain HEAL grants and are organized depending on the type of pain and population being studied.

Most HEAL pain studies would fall into one of several categories that would determine their core questionnaires: adult acute pain, adult chronic pain, or pediatric pain (both acute and chronic pain). These categories are listed in the “core or supplemental” column.

The “Advanced Search” function can filter the questionnaires by the specific type of pain research being conducted (acute vs. chronic), the patient population (adult vs. pediatric), and the domain (research topic) of the questionnaires.

For core questionnaires with multiple versions listed (e.g., GAD-2, GAD-7), studies can use any one of these versions, but at a minimum must use the shortest version listed.

The text box allows users to search for a specific questionnaire or research topic area.

Files can be downloaded directly from the links in the second column. Filenames that include the suffix “CRF” are questionnaires (case-report forms) and filenames with the suffix “CDE” are the CDE files with variable names and coding information.

To download more than one file at a time, use the checkboxes on the left hand side to select the files you would like to download. After you click the "Download Selected Files" button, you will get a message at the top of the page saying, "Export file created, Click here to download." This will download a zipped folder with your selections.

“Download list” allows users to download the list of questionnaires that are displayed as search results.

For questionnaires that are copyrighted and require a license for use, the files linked below contain instructions on how to properly obtain a license for use.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

No items
Description File Name File Language Core or Supplemental Research Topic
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) is an initial screening tool for generalized anxiety disorder. Swedish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
  • Supplemental
Anxiety
The Opioid MME is the amount of milligrams of morphine an opioid dose is equal to when prescribed. Calculating MME accounts for differences in opioid drug type and strength. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Opioids
The Pain Catastrophizing Scale 13 (PCS-13) measures the state of mind of a participant in pain that encompasses the different perspectives on worrying. English, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Supplemental
Pain Catastrophizing
The Pain Catastrophizing Scale 6 (PCS-6) measures the state of mind of a participant in pain that encompasses the different perspectives on worrying. English, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Pain Catastrophizing
The Pain, Enjoyment of Life and General Activity (PEG) scale is used for quickly assessing and monitoring chronic pain. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
Pain Intensity, Pain Interference
The Pain, Enjoyment of Life and General Activity (PEG) scale is used for quickly assessing and monitoring chronic pain. Spanish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
Pain Intensity, Pain Interference
The Pain, Enjoyment of Life and General Activity (PEG) scale is used for quickly assessing and monitoring chronic pain. Swedish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
Pain Intensity, Pain Interference
The Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) measures the change of a participant's condition over a certain amount of time. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
Global Satisfaction with Treatment
The Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) measures the change of a participant's condition over a certain amount of time. Spanish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
Global Satisfaction with Treatment
The Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) measures the change of a participant's condition over a certain amount of time. Swedish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
Global Satisfaction with Treatment
The Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Spanish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Swedish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
  • Supplemental
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Spanish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
  • Supplemental
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Swedish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
  • Supplemental
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
  • Supplemental
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Spanish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
  • Supplemental
Depression
The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) measures the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Swedish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
  • Pediatrics
  • Supplemental
Depression
The PROMIS Physical Function 6b assesses physical function through a grading scale of daily living activities. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Physical Functioning
The PROMIS Physical Function 6b assesses physical function through a grading scale of daily living activities. Spanish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Physical Functioning
The PROMIS 6a scale measures sleep disturbances in the past 7 days. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Sleep
The PROMIS 6a scale measures sleep disturbances in the past 7 days. Spanish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Sleep
The PROMIS 6a scale measures sleep disturbances in the past 7 days. Swedish
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Sleep
The PROMIS 6a scale is composed of 6 items developed to assess the domain of sleep disturbances in the past 7 days. English
  • All Core
  • Adult Chronic
  • Adult Acute
Sleep