Articles: pain-measurement.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Development of a neuropathic pain questionnaire.
Ongoing efforts to develop mechanisms-based assessment and treatment of chronic pain have been hindered by the lack of assessment tools differentially sensitive to various phenomena underlying different mechanisms of pain. This study describes the development of an assessment instrument intended to measure neuropathic pain based on qualities of pain as they are inferred from pain descriptors. Subjects were 528 chronic pain patients from several clinics. ⋯ The newly developed instrument, NPQ, may be used for the initial screening of neuropathic pain patients. It also has the ability to provide a quantitative measure for the descriptors important in the diagnosis and assessment of neuropathic pain. Consequently, it can be used for monitoring of neuropathic pain treatments and as an outcome measure.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Interpretation of visual analog scale ratings and change scores: a reanalysis of two clinical trials of postoperative pain.
The visual analog scale (VAS) is one of the most commonly used measures of pain intensity in pain research. However, there remain important unanswered questions concerning interpretation of specific VAS ratings and change scores. ⋯ As predicted, in assessment of the amount of change corresponding to differing levels of pain relief, percentage change in a patient's VAS score was less biased by pretreatment pain than was absolute change score. The findings also suggested that a 33% decrease in pain represents a reasonable standard for determining that a change in pain is meaningful from the patient's perspective.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
What is a meaningful pain reduction in patients with complex regional pain syndrome type 1?
To investigate the degree of pain reduction in patients with complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS 1) that can be defined as "successful." ⋯ Relative pain reduction of 50% or more and an absolute pain reduction of at least 3 cm on the VAS are accurate in predicting a successful pain reduction after a given treatment.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of different quantitative sensory testing methods during remifentanil infusion in volunteers.
The aim of this study was to compare thermal and current sensory testing stimuli with respect to opioid responsiveness. ⋯ Both current (5 and 250 Hz) and heat sensory testing detected a significant analgesic effect of a remifentanil infusion compared with saline. There was more response to current testing.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Negative affect: effects on an evaluative measure of human pain.
Prior work indicates that exposure to fear-inducing shock inhibits finger-withdrawal to radiant heat in humans (hypoalgesia), whereas anxiety induced by threat of shock enhances reactivity (hyperalgesia; Pain 84 (2000) 65-75). Although finger-withdrawal latencies are thought to reflect changes in pain sensitivity, additional measures of pain are needed to determine whether pain perception is altered. The present study examined the impact of negative affect on visual analog scale (VAS) ratings of fixed duration thermal stimuli. ⋯ Results suggest that both negative affect manipulations reduced pain. Manipulation checks indicated that the emotion-induction treatments induced similar levels of fear but with different arousal levels. Potential mechanisms for affect induced changes in pain are discussed.