Baños J E, Bosch F, Cañellas M, Bassols A, Ortega F, Bigorra J
Department of Farmacologia i Psiquiatria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 1989 Feb;11(2):123-7.
Pain is the clinical symptom most difficult to evaluate. Although clinical trials methodology have permitted assessment of pain objectively through rating scales, these strategies have not been used in clinical setting. The present study was undertaken to determine if visual analogue scales could be useful in the measurement of postoperative pain in usual medical practice. The study comprised 212 patients with abdominal, orthopedic or gynecological surgical procedures within the previous 24 h. Patients evaluated their pain using a verbal rating scale (VRS) of five points or a visual analogue scale (VAS) of 10 cm. The investigators also evaluated patient pain through a VAS. The results obtained showed that a high correlation between VRS and VAS could be established in all patients (p less than 0.001). The VAS of patients and researchers were also found to be highly correlated (p less than 0.001). When values of each group were compared by pain intensity a total agreement of VAS scores at low pain level could be established, but differences were found at high pain intensity levels, suggesting that physicians scored lower than patients when pain was severe to unbearable. It is concluded that VAS could be a reliable method to assess pain in clinical setting.
疼痛是最难评估的临床症状。尽管临床试验方法已允许通过评分量表对疼痛进行客观评估，但这些方法尚未在临床环境中使用。本研究旨在确定视觉模拟量表在常规医疗实践中测量术后疼痛是否有用。该研究纳入了212例在过去24小时内接受腹部、骨科或妇科手术的患者。患者使用五分制的语言评分量表（VRS）或10厘米的视觉模拟量表（VAS）评估其疼痛程度。研究人员也通过VAS评估患者的疼痛。所得结果表明，所有患者的VRS和VAS之间都能建立高度相关性（p<0.001）。还发现患者和研究人员的VAS高度相关（p<0.001）。当按疼痛强度比较每组的值时，在低疼痛水平下VAS评分可以完全一致，但在高疼痛强度水平下发现存在差异，这表明在疼痛严重到难以忍受时，医生的评分低于患者。结论是，VAS可能是临床环境中评估疼痛的可靠方法。
