Pain: A review of three commonly used pain rating scales

Journal of Clinical Nursing

Volumn 14, Issue 7, 2005, Pages 798-804

  Williamson, Amelia ^a,b   Hoggart, Barbara ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS BIRMINGHAM NHS FOUNDATION TRUST   (United Kingdom)

^b NONE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Numerical Rating Scale; Pain; Pain assessment; Pain measurement; Pain rating scales; Verbal Rating Scale; Visual Analogue Scale

Indexed keywords

HUMAN; METHODOLOGY; NURSING ASSESSMENT; PAIN; PAIN ASSESSMENT; PAIN THRESHOLD; PATHOPHYSIOLOGY; REPRODUCIBILITY; REVIEW; SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY;

HUMANS; NURSING ASSESSMENT; PAIN; PAIN MEASUREMENT; PAIN THRESHOLD; REPRODUCIBILITY OF RESULTS; SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY;

EID: 22544459083     PISSN: 09621067     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2005.01121.x     Document Type: Review

References (52)

1. Allen RS, Haley WE, Small BJ & McMillan SC (2002) Pain reports by older hospice cancer patients and family caregivers: the role of cognitive functioning. Gerontologist 42, 507-514.
2. Aun C, Lam YM & Collett B (1986) Evaluation of the use of visual analogue scale in Chinese patients. Pain 25, 215-221.
3. Bijur PE, Silver W & Gallagher EJ (2001) Reliability of the visual analog scale for measurement of acute pain. Academic Emergency Medicine 8, 1153-1157.
4. Bijur PE, Latimer CT & Gallagher EJ (2003) Validation of a verbally administered numerical rating scale of acute pain for use in the emergency department. Academic Emergency Medicine 10, 390-392.
5. Boden SD, McCowin PR, Davis DO, Dina TS, Mark AS & Wiesel S (1990) Abnormal magnetic-resonance scans of the cervical spine in asymptomatic subjects. A prospective investigation. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (America) 72, 1178-1184.
6. Briggs M & Closs JS (1999) A descriptive study of the use of visual analogue scales and verbal rating scales for the assessment of postoperative pain in orthopedic patients. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 18, 438-446.
7. Cepeda MS, Africano JM, Polo R, Alcala R & Carr DB (2003) Agreement between percentage pain reductions calculated from numeric rating scores of pain intensity and those reported by patients with acute or cancer pain. Pain 106, 439-442.
8. Clark WC, Ferrer-Brechner T, Janal MN, Carroll JD & Yang JC (1989) The dimensions of pain: a multidimensional scaling comparison of cancer patients and healthy volunteers. Pain 37, 23-32.
9. Collins SL, Moore RA & McQuay HJ (1997) The visual analogue pain intensity scale: what is moderate pain in millimetres? Pain 72, 95-97.
10. DeLoach LJ, Higgins MS, Caplan AB & Stiff JL (1998) The visual analog scale in the immediate postoperative period: intrasubject variability and correlation with a numeric scale. Anesthesia and Analgesia 86, 102-106.
11. Dexter F & Chestnut DH (1995) Analysis of statistical tests to compare visual analog scale measurements among groups. Anesthesiology 82, 896-902.
12. Dixon JS (1986) Agreement between horizontal and vertical visual analogue scales. British Journal of Rheumatology 25, 415-416.
13. Fanurik D, Koh JL, Harrison RD, Conrad TM & Tomerlin C (1998) Pain assessment in children with cognitive impairment. An exploration of self-report skills. Clinical Nursing Research 7, 103-119.
14. Farrar JT, Portenoy RK, Berlin JA, Kinman JL & Strom BL (2000) Defining the clinically important difference in pain outcome measures. Pain 88, 287-294.
15. Farrar JT, Young JP Jr, LaMoreaux L, Werth JL & Poole RM (2001) Clinical importance of changes in chronic pain intensity measured on an 11-point numerical pain rating scale. Pain 94, 149-158.
16. Gabre P & Sjoquist K (2002) Experience and assessment of pain in individuals with cognitive impairments. Special Care Dentistry 22, 174-180.
17. Gallagher EJ, Bijur PE, Latimer C & Silver W (2002) Reliability and validity of a visual analog scale for acute abdominal pain in the ED. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 20, 287-290.
18. Guyatt GH, Townsend M, Berman LB & Keller JL (1987) A comparison of likert and visual analogue scales for measuring change in function. Journal of Chronic Diseases 40, 1129-1133.
19. Hinchcliffe KP, Surrall KE & Dixon JS (1985) Reproducibility of pain measurements in rheumatoid arthritis by patients using visual analogue scales. Phamaceutical Medicine 1, 99-103.
20. Jacobsen M (1965) The use of pain rating scales in clinical research. British Journal of Psychiatry 111, 545-546.
21. Jamison RN, Gracely RH, Raymond SA, Levine JG, Marino B, Herrmann TJ, Daly M, Fram D & Katz NP (2002) Comparative study of electronic vs. paper VAS ratings: a randomized, crossover trial using healthy volunteers. Pain 99, 341-347.
22. Jensen TS & Karoly P (1992) Self-report scales and procedures for assessing pain in adults. In The Handbook of Pain Assessment (Turk DC & Melzack R eds). The Guildford Press, New York, pp. 135-151.
23. Jensen MP, Karoly P & Braver S (1986) The measurement of clinical pain intensity: a comparison of six methods. Pain 27, 117-126.
24. Jensen MP, Turner JA & Romano JM (1994) What is the maximum number of levels needed in pain intensity measurement? Pain 58, 387-392.
25. Joyce CR, Zutshi DW, Hrubes V & Mason RM (1975) Comparison of fixed interval and visual analogue scales for rating chronic pain. European Journal of Clinical Phamacology 8, 415-420.
26. Kremer E, Atkinson JH & Ignelzi RJ (1981) Measurement of pain: patient preference does not confound pain measurement. Pain 10, 241-248.
27. Lara-Munoz C, De Leon SP, Feinstein AR, Puente A & Wells CK (2004) Comparison of three rating scales for measuring subjective phenomena in clinical research. I. Use of experimentally controlled auditory stimuli. Archives of Medical Research 35, 43-48.
28. Linton SJ & Gotestam KG (1983) A clinical comparison of two pain scales: correlation, remembering chronic pain, and a measure of compliance. Pain 17, 57-65.
29. Littman GS, Walker BR & Schneider BE (1985) Reassessment of verbal and visual analog ratings in analgesic studies. Clinical and Pharmacological Therapy 38, 16-23.
30. McCaffrey M & Beebe A (1989) Giving narcotics for pain. Nursing 19, 161-165.
31. McCormack HM, Horne DJ & Sheather S (1988) Clinical applications of visual analogue scales: a critical review. Psychological Medicine 18, 1007-1019.
32. Murphy DF, McDonald A, Power C, Unwin A & MacSullivan R (1988) Measurement of pain: a comparison of the visual analogue with a non-visual analogue scale. Clinical Journal of Pain 3, 197-199.
33. Ogon M, Krismer M, Sollner W, Kantner-Rumplmair W & Lampe A (1996) Chronic low back pain measurement with visual analogue scales in different settings. Pain 64, 425-428.
34. Ohnhaus EE & Adler R (1975) Methodological problems in the measurement of pain: a comparison between the verbal rating scale and the visual analogue scale. Pain 1, 379-384.
35. Price DD, McGrath PA, Rafii A & Buckingham B (1983) The validation of visual analogue scales as ratio scale measures for chronic and experimental pain. Pain 17, 45-56.
36. Price DD, Bush FM, Long S & Harkins SW (1994) A comparison of pain measurement characteristics of mechanical visual analogue and simple numerical rating scales. Pain 56, 217-226.
37. Price CI, Curless RH & Rodgers H (1999) Can stroke patients use visual analogue scales? Stroke 30, 1357-1361.
38. Radbruch L, Sabatowski R, Loick G, Jonen-Thielemann I, Kasper M, Gondek B, Lehmann KA & Thielemann I (2000) Cognitive impairment and its influence on pain and symptom assessment in a palliative care unit: development of a Minimal Documentation System. Palliative Medicine 14, 266-276.
39. Reading AE (1980) A comparison of pain rating scales. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 24, 119-124.
40. Rosier EM, Iadarola MJ & Coghill RC (2002) Reproducibility of pain measurement and pain perception. Pain 98, 205-216.
41. Rowbotham MC (2001) What is a 'clinically meaningful' reduction in pain? Pain 94, 131-132.
42. Royal College of Surgeons & Royal College of Anaesthetists (1990) Commission on the Provision of Surgical Services: Report of the Working Party on Pain After Surgery. Royal College of Surgeons and Royal College of Anaesthetists, London.
43. Scott J & Huskisson EC (1979a) Accuracy of subjective measurements made with or without previous scores: an important source of error in serial measurement of subjective states. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 38, 558-559.
44. Scott J & Huskisson EC (1979b) Vertical or horizontal visual analogue scales. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 38, 560.
45. Serlin RC, Mendoza TR, Nakamura Y, Edwards KR & Cleeland CS (1995) When is cancer pain mild, moderate or severe? Grading pain severity by its interference with function. Pain 61, 277-284.
46. Snow S & Kirwan JR (1988) Visual analogue scales: a source of error. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 47, 526.
47. Spence A (2000) Services for Patients with Pain; Report of a CSAG Committee. Department of Health, London.
48. Turk DC & Melzack R (1992) The measurement and assessment of people in pain. In Handbook of Pain Assessment (Turk DC & Melzack R eds). The Guildford Press, New York, pp. 3-12.
49. Van Tubergen A, Debats I, Ryser L, Londono J, Burgos-Vargas R, Cardiel MH, Landewe R, Stucki G & Van Der HD (2002) Use of a numerical rating scale as an answer modality in ankylosing spondylitis-specific questionnaires. Arthritis and Rheumatism (Arthritis Care and Research) 47, 242-248.
50. Wiesel SW, Tsourmas N, Feffer HL, Citrin CM & Patronas N (1984) A study of computer-assisted tomography. I. The incidence of positive CAT scans in an asymptomatic group of patients. Spine 9, 549-551.
51. Windsor AM, Glynn CJ & Mason DG (1996) National provision of acute pain services. Anaesthesia 51, 228-231.
52. Woodforde JM & Merskey H (1972) Some relationships between subjective measures of pain. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 16, 173-178.