Pain Assessment. Comparative review of scales and questionnaires

Abstract

Pain is defined as an unpleasant emotion, experience, or sensation, associated with potential or the general population, but it acquires special relevance among the working-class population, because of its socioeconomic implications. The objective of this work is to perform a review of the different scales and questionnaires used for the assessment of pain and its limitations, for their later use in medical, professional, and research purposes. An investigation of the different scales, questionnaires, disability and incapacity concept for the assessment of pain was carried out, comparing them and reviewing the consideration of pain as an object of qualification in different countries. The results reaffirm the complexity of the assessment of pain, especially for its future use, quantification, and qualification when those did not previously existed. Conclusion: All kinds of measurement scales and questionnaires are considered very useful, all beign valid, but none finally conclusive; The researchers must decide which method they will apply in each different case, based on their experience and the goal they try to achieve.