title: Can a single pain rating replace a multiple pain rating in third molar surgery studies? Analysis of 220 patients.
abstract: This study describes the comparison of multiple and single pain ratings in patients after surgical removal of the third molar. Correlation and agreement analysis were performed between the average pain intensity measured three times a day over a period of 7 days and one single pain rating (designated the 'recalled average' pain, as assessed by the patient) after surgical removal of the lower third molar. The study population consisted of patients participating in three randomized trials. The results show that both measurement correlated good to excellent, but there was a large variation in agreement between the ratings. In conclusion, in patients with surgical third molar removal a single pain rating is not an accurate predictor of the average pain measured by a multiple pain-rating test. A single pain rating cannot replace a multiple pain assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center/Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W J J M
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Heymans
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Skorpil
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Forouzanfar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000601:surgery; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000601:surgery*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000145:classification; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D057566:Self Report; D014081:Tooth Extraction; D055815:Young Adult