Comparison of a verbal numeric rating scale with the visual analogue scale for the measurement of acute pain

Emergency Medicine

Volumn 15, Issue 5-6, 2003, Pages 441-446

  Holdgate, Anna ^a   Asha, Stephen ^a   Craig, Jonathan ^b   Thompson, Jennifer ^a  

^a ST GEORGE HOSPITAL   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Pain; Verbal pain scale; Visual analogue scale

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; CALCULATION; CONTROLLED STUDY; CORRELATION ANALYSIS; FEMALE; HUMAN; INTERMETHOD COMPARISON; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; PAIN ASSESSMENT; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RATING SCALE; SCORING SYSTEM; VERBAL BEHAVIOR; VERBAL COMMUNICATION; VERBAL NUMERIC RATING SCALE; VISUAL ANALOG SCALE;

ACUTE DISEASE; ADULT; EMERGENCY SERVICE, HOSPITAL; FEMALE; HOSPITALS, URBAN; HUMANS; MALE; PAIN MEASUREMENT; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; STATISTICS, NONPARAMETRIC;

EID: 0345095449     PISSN: 10356851     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1046/j.1442-2026.2003.00499.x     Document Type: Article

References (17)

1. Liebalt E, Levick N. Acute pain management, analgesia, and anxiolysis in the adult patient. In: Tintinalli, JE, Kelen, GD, Stapczynski, JS, eds. Emergency Medicine: a Comprehensive Study Guide, 5th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999; 251-69.
2. Todd KH, Funk KG, Funk JP. Clinical significance of reported changes in pain severity. Ann. Emerg. Med. 1996; 27: 485-9.
3. Kelly A-M. The minimum clinically significant difference in visual analogue scale pain score does not differ with severity of pain. Emerg. Med. J. 2001; 18: 205-7.
4. Powell CV, Kelly AM, Williams A. Determining the minimum clinically significant difference in visual analog pain score for children. Ann. Emerg. Med. 2001; 37: 28-31.
5. Gallagher EJ, Liebman M, Bijur PE. Prospective validation of clinically important changes in pain severity measured on a visual analog scale. Ann. Emerg. Med. 2001; 38: 633-8.
6. Bijur PE, Silver W, Gallagher EJ. Reliability of the visual analog scale for measurement of acute pain. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2001; 8: 1153-7.
7. Huskisson EC. Measurement of pain. Lancet 1974; II: 1127-31.
8. Downie WW, Leatham PA, Rhind VM, Wright V, Branco JA, Anderson JA. Studies with pain rating scales. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 1978; 37: 378-81.
9. Kremer E, Atkinson JH, Ignelzi RJ. Measurement of pain: patient preference does not confound pain measurement. Pain 1981; 10: 241-8.
10. Seymour RA. The use of pain scales in assessing the efficacy of analgesics in post-operative dental pain. Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 1982; 23: 441-4.
11. DeLoach LJ, Higgins MS, Caplan AB, Stiff JL. The visual analog scale in the immediate postoperative period: intrasubject variability and correlation with numeric rating scale. Anesth. Analg. 1998; 86: 102-6.
12. Breivik EK, Bjornsson GA, Skovlund E. A comparison of pain rating scales by sampling from clinical trial data. Clin. J. Pain 2000; 16: 22-8.
13. Magbagbeola JA. Pain assessment in Nigerians - visual analogue scale and verbal rating scale compared. West Afr. J. Med. 2001; 20: 219-22.
14. Bland JM, Altman DG. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1986; 1: 307-10.
15. Kaufman BJ, Bijur PE, Latimer C, Gallagher EJ. Can a numerical rating scale be substituted for a visual analog scale for pain. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2002; 9: 403-4.
16. Kelly A-M. Does the clinically significant difference in visual analog scale pain scores vary with gender, age or cause of pain? Acad. Emerg. Med. 1998; 5: 1086-90.
17. Bland JM, Altman DG. Statistics notes: correlation, regression, and repeated data. BMJ 1994; 308: 896.