疼痛评分量表

P u b l i s h e d b y M a n e y P u b l i s h i n g (c ) W . S . M a n e y & S o n L i m i t e d

INTRODUCTION

Physical therapists use tests and measures to evaluate patients on a daily basis: tests and measures are the ‘heart and soul of good clinical practice’.1As the pro-fession of physical therapy continues to evolve toward full professional autonomy, clinicians must develop an enhanced understanding of the applications and the implications of using specific clinical measures;additionally, physical therapy treatment approaches must be demonstrated to be clinically effective, as part of which observed changes in patient status as a result of physical therapy interventions, should be demon-strably clinically meaningful and statistically signifi-cant. Physical therapists must go beyond the routine of performing specific tests or measures, but rather must understand the theoretical basis for the mea-surement; understand what the instrument is measur-ing; know how to chose the most appropriate tool;understand potential sources of error; know how to interpret the clinical information obtained; and

understand measurement issues, including concepts of validity and reliability.1,2

Pain is one of the primary reasons patients seek medical attention; therefore, patient perceived pain levels are commonly used as an outcome measure and indicator of clinical change. Unlike measurements of physical impairments such as range of motion or strength, pain is a subjective and multidimensional phenomenon, its presentation depending upon a vari-ety of aetiologies and influencing factors.3–6The sub-jective nature of pain leads to some of the difficulty encountered in its measurement: instruments must translate subjective information into objective mea-sures.4Numerous pain measurement tools are com-monly used by both clinicians and researchers.4–18As a result of the subjective and multidimensional char-acteristics of pain, most clinical studies use a combi-nation of pain measures in an attempt to ensure a true representation of the patient’s pain experience.

The purpose of this literature review is to explore,compare, and contrast the psychometric properties of

© W . S. Maney & Son Ltd 2005

DOI 10.1179/108331905X55776

VISUAL ANALOGUE SCALE, NUMERIC PAIN RATING SCALE AND THE McGILL PAIN QUESTIONNAIRE: AN OVER VIEW OF PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES

CRISTIANA KAHL 1AND JOSHUA A. CLELAND 2,3

1

Division of Physical Therapy, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York, USA 2

Physical Therapy Program, Franklin Pierce College, Concord, New Hampshire, USA 3

Rehabilitation Services of Concord Hospital, Concord, New Hampshire, USA

ABSTRACT

It is essential for physical therapists to use outcome measures that identify and measure a change in patient status; however, pain is a multidimensional experience that is often difficult to measure. A variety of instruments have been developed in an attempt to obtain an accurate measure of patients’ perceived level of pain. Three of the most common outcome measures utilised by physical therapists include the visual analogue scale, the numeric pain rating scale and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. The purpose of this review is to describe the psychometric properties, including reliability and responsiveness, of these outcome measures.

Keywords : Outcome measures, psychometric properties, pain, V AS, NPRS, MPQ

Physical Therapy Reviews 2005; 10: 123–128