The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) is an international professional organization promoting research, education and policies for the knowledge and management of pain. The IASP was founded in 1973, following the Seattle-Issaquah conference, under the leadership of John Bonica.^[1] Its secretariat is based in Seattle, Washington. It publishes the scientific journal Pain.^[2] IASP brings together scientists, clinicians, healthcare providers and policymakers to stimulate and support the study of pain and to translate that knowledge into improved pain relief worldwide. IASP currently has more than 7,000 members from 108 countries and in 70 chapters.^[3]

The often quoted IASP definition of pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage"^[4] is derived from a 1964 definition by Harold Merskey,^[5] and it was first published in 1979 by IASP in Pain journal, number 6, page 250.

[edit] References

1. ^ John Bonica, Pain's Champion and the Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic
2. ^ PAIN journal homepage, ISSN 0304-3959 (print) or ISSN 1872-6623 (electronic)
3. ^ International Association for the Study of Pain | Welcome to IASP
4. ^ IASP Pain Terminology
5. ^ "An unpleasant experience that we primarily associate with tissue damage or describe in terms of tissue damage or both." Merskey, H. (1964), An Investigation of Pain in Psychological Illness, DM Thesis, Oxford.

[edit] External links

• Official website