OBJECTIVES: To assess the sensitivity of the EQ-5D in differentiating between severities of pain related health status (PRHS). METHODS: Study is being conducted with chronic pain patients attending a specialty pain centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Self reported PRHS was determined using standardized clinical measures that included the Pain Disability Index and The Facial Pain Scale. These measures were slightly modified to facilitate comprehension based on information generated from pilot testing. Patients were categorized according to their PRHS and the EQ-5D was administered to quantify their health utility. Linear regressions were used to compare health utilities between severity levels of PHS adjusting for gender, marital status, age, month as a patient, smoking status and income. RESULTS: Sixty four patients have been assessed. The mean utility was 0.5524 (n=30) for persons with moderate disability and severe pain (MDSP), 0.3625 (n=9) for persons with severe disability and extreme pain (SDEP), 0.3358 (n=22) for persons with severe disability and severe pain (SDSP), and 0.2965 (n=3) for persons with moderate disability and extreme pain (MDEP). Compared to persons with MDSP, persons with SDSP were associated with a -0.225 utility decrement (p<0.001), and persons with SDEP associated with a -0.240 utility decrement (p=0.002). All other comparisons between PRHS levels were non-significant. CONCLUSION: The EQ-5D may be sensitive in detecting differences between low and high levels of PRHS but not within severe levels of PRHS.