UNIT 3: PAIN

Question 1

What is Pain?

Answer 1

• Subjective experience

- “A distress often caused by intense // damaging stimuli”

Question 2

3 Useful functions of Pain

Answer 2

1. Occurs before serious injuries (WARNINGS) - “Stop holding the hot plate”
2. Aids learning (LEARN) - “I shouldn’t mix water and electricity because it hurts”
3. Limits activity; Aids recovery; (KNOWING LIMITS) “Importance of warming up before extensive physical activity”

Question 3

3 ways to measure Pain

Answer 3

1. Physiological method: EEG
   - -records brain activity
2. Observations
3. Self-reports

Question 4

Self Report Measures (4);

What do doctors look for?

Answer 4

1. Pain intensity
2. Pain quality
3. Pain location
4. Duration of pain

Question 5

Name of Pain Questionnaire? And how it measures pain (4)?

Answer 5

McGill Pain Questionnaire

PAIN INTENSITY
– measures the impact of pain via the number of painkillers the person takes

PAIN QUALITY
– measures the level of unpleasantness on 2 measures (deep and surface pain) e.g. SHARP, CUTTING, THROBBING, TINGLING

PAIN LOCATION
– measured by asking patients to identify the area on the body where they are experiencing pain

DURATION OF PAIN
– measured by asking when the pain started

Question 6

What are Behavioural and Observation methods belief?

Answer 6

Behaviourists believe that we should

• NOT investigate subjective feelings, cognitions, or emotions
• ONLY observable behaviours

Question 7

UAB Pain Behaviour Scale
(Who made it? 
How many target questions? and how were they formatted?
What does it do?
Final score is related to?
Strengths? (4))

Answer 7

• Observational tool
• By Richards et al (1982)
• 10 target behaviours & questions and observers have to rate how frequently occurs; 3 points on a likert scale
• UAB help determine the level of pain control and identify temporal associations that influence management (menstruation, genetics; related to another cause)
• The higher the score, the more marked pain-associated behaviour AND greater level of impairment

Strengths:

• Easy to use
• Quick to use
• Scored well on inter-rater reliability
• Scored well on test-retest reliability

Question 8

10 Areas of concern of the UAB Pain Behaviour Scale

Answer 8

1. Vocal complaints - verbal
2. Vocal complaints - nonverbal (groaning, whimpering, gasps)
3. Down time (e.g. time spent lying down because of pain)
4. Facial grimaces
5. Standing posture
6. Mobility
7. Body language (clutching / rubbing site of pain)
8. Use of visible support equipment (braces, crutches, cane, furniture)
9. Stationary movement (ability to stay still)
10. Usage of medication

Question 9

2 Pain measures for Children

Answer 9

Varni & Thompson, 1987
(Paediatric Pain Questionnaire)

Wong-Baker FACES
(Pain rating scale)

Question 10

Paediatric Pain Questionnaire

Varni & Thompson

Answer 10

• Child-friendly
• Multidimensional questionnaire (doctor, child, parents separately answers the Qs)
• Comprehensive assessment of CHRONIC PAIN in children
• It measures:
  1. Pain intensity
  2. Pain location
  3. Sensory evaluation
  4. Affective qualities of the pain

Question 11

Wong-Baker FACES

Pain rating questionnaire

Answer 11

• Developed for child patients to help communicate how much pain they were feeling
• Recommended for children aged 3 and older
• For chronic pain
• The Visual Analogue scale (VAS) had excellent correlation with older children with acute pain and was found to have an increasing relationship with the Wong-Baker FACES Scale
• *Visual Analogue Scale - pictures of faces with increasing severity of expressions associated with a number