Week 2: Qs Flashcards
Besides formal questionnaires, what are three common methods to measure pain?
- Oral Pain Scale (OPS)
- Faces Pain Scale (FPS)/Wong Baker Scale Faces (WBS)
- Visual Analogue Scale (VAS); added to Oswestry questionnaire (LBP)
What is one of the most common set of anchor terms to use when measuring pain?
0 represents no pain and
10 represents worst pain imaginable
It’s important not to change the anchor terms.
When doing a single pain measurement, which is better to measure usual pain or current pain?
Usual pain (better than current)
What is MCID?
Minimal clinically important difference
What MCID is generally recommended for MSK pain in general?
2-3
MCID for worst pain?
3
MCID for least pain?
2
MCID for patients with LBP who have a baseline score of 5+ vs under 5?
> 5 = Change of at least 2 points
<5 = change of at least 1 point
What is the difference between measuring pain intensity vs pain “unpleasantness”?
Unpleasantness of pain represents a different dimension of the pain experience. Although the intensity of the pain may remain unchanged, the patients pain tolerance may improve.
When might measuring unpleasantness be a better choice?
Pain unpleasantness may be a good choice for patients with chronic, debilitating pain.
An athlete has significant pain while rowing, but still can row in practice and competitions.
Otherwise, he has neither usual, average nor current pain. Pain only while rowing. How might
you measure and chart this?
Rate your pain when engaged in activity or particular activity
How do pain face images covert to numerical scores?
They show how much something can hurt; initially designed to help children but not enough to switch from one to another
0 = no pain, 10 = very much pain
In what part of the SOAP note should these different measurements be recorded?
S for subjective
Generally speaking, if only asking the patient to rate their pain based on one item, which would be best: current pain, usual pain, or average pain?
Usual pain
