Pain assessment tools
A number of more detailed questionnaires have been developed to assess chronic pain. They are mainly used as research tools, for example to assess the effect of a treatment in a clinical trial, but may be used in specialist pain clinics.
Examples of such assessment tools are:
| The McGill Pain Questionnaire1 | Contains a list of descriptive words to choose, to indicate the intensity and character of the pain, with a drawing of a body on which you draw in where the pain affects you |
| The Brief Pain Inventory2 | This questionnaire has a number of scales on which to rate, from one to ten, aspects of the pain, the response to treatment and the effect of the pain on function in everyday activities. There is also a drawing of a body to indicate where the pain is, as in the McGill questionnaire |
| The Neuropathic Pain Scale3 | This questionnaire is particularly designed for people suffering from pain due to nerve disease or damage (neuropathic pain). This type of pain can feel very strange and be difficult to describe. This questionnaire involves rating descriptions of the pain (such as hot or itching) from one to ten |
References
1. Melzack R, Katz J. The McGill Pain Questionnaire: appraisal and current status. In: Turk DC, Melzack R, editors. Handbook of pain assessment. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2001. p.35-52.
2. Cleeland CS, Pain Research Group. The Brief Pain Inventory. 1991.
3. Argoff CE. Conclusions: chronic pain studies of lidocaine patch 5% using the Neuropathic Pain Scale. Curr Med Res Opin 2004;20(Suppl 2):s29-31.