On a scale from 1–10, how would you rate your pain?

There is a lingering question. Is it a good idea asking patients to fill out a test or should the doctor/psychologist bases their diagnostic just on their observation? In certain cases, it is best to have them fill out a test rather than just following the DSM-V, since self-reports help us understand what the patient feels.

I believe that the same thing applies when a patient is going to their doctor because they are suffering from pain. There are various rating scales that are used and will be discussed briefly along with their strengths and weaknesses. The three that I will be talking about are the verbal pain intensity scale, the visual analogue scale, and the 0–10 numeric pain intensity scale.

The Visual Analogue Pain Scale (VAS) is a scale that begins from “no pain” and ends with “worst possible pain”. There are no other words or numbers in between and therefore can circle anywhere they feel theirpain belongs. An advantage about this is that the patient will not remember where exactly they circled the first time they did the test and therefore prevents certain bias issues in picking it again. There is also a more dynamic range. The negative aspect of this scale is the fact that there is no universal label of the different places the patient may circle and therefore there are different versions of the test.

The 0–10 Numerical Paint Intensity Scale (NRS) is a scale that is numbered from 0 to 10. 0 is defined as “no pain”, 5 as “moderate pain” and 10 as “worst possible pain”. Its strength is that it is quick and easy to use and has been used by many researchers. Its weakness is unlike the VAS, patients will remember what they chose the first time they did the test and will most likely pick the same number again.

The Verbal Pain Intensity Scale is fairly similar with the NRS. They both share the same strength and weakness. The only difference is that there are words instead of numbers on the scale.

Even though each scale has some disadvantages, I believe that it is best that doctors use one of these tests to get an idea of how much in pain the person is at the time of their check-up. Rather than just doing their own assessment, they should also focus on the patient’s own subjective experience.

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