title: Pain measurement: a comparison using horizontal and vertical visual analogue scales.
abstract: The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) is widely used in assessing a variety of pain problems. MPQ has been found to be sensitive enough to detect differences in pain relief and differences between acute and chronic pain. It requires, however, 5 to 10 minutes to administer. Because of this time factor, the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) was developed. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was not included in the original MPQ but is part of the SF-MPQ. Studies addressing the best way to present a VAS suggest that a vertical line is easier for patients to see; however, the VAS on the SF-MPQ is a horizontal line. This study examined the relationship between SF-MPQ scores with both the horizontal and vertical VAS.
authors.affiliation: East Carolina University, School of Nursing, Greenville, NC 27858-4353, USA. stephensonn@mail.ecu.edu
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Stephenson
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Herman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results