2.2. Study Participants

Two types of participants were involved in the Delphi process: members of the expert committee (the board) and members of the panel of experts (the panel). The panelists were selected by the expert committee. Selection criteria included:

Being active pain specialists.

General practitioners who usually manage at least 25 patients/year with chronic pain.

Professionals from different disciplines (pain therapy, oncology, general medicine, rheumatology, neurology, geriatrics, pediatrics, orthopedics, and physiatry) with a documented experience in the treatment of chronic pain.

The participation in scientific boards on pain, affiliation with scientific societies, a scientific activity characterized by at least three publications about pain in the last 10 years, and being a member of the editorial board of scientific journals were adopted as additional selection requirements. Two members of the board (L.M. and A.M.) and the moderator verified the congruence of the requirements. Upon acceptance for participation in the study, each panelist confirmed the eligibility criteria.

In every round, anonymous electronic surveys were used to collect the data via Google Form in its free release. Non-responders were sent two electronic reminders.