Ratio scales of sensory and affective verbal pain descriptors

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Abstract
Ratio scales of sensory and affective verbal pain descriptors are valid, reliable and objective. Subjects (16) rated 15 sensory and 15 affective verbal pain descriptors by numerical magnitude estimation and by cross-modality matching to hand-grip force. Ratio scales of sensory and affective verbal pain descriptors computed for 2 separate groups were highly correlated between the groups, as well as over sessions. Scales based on an individual''s data correlated equally with either another set of scales from the same individual or a mean scale from a similar group. Sensory and affective verbal descriptor scales from the 1st experiment correlated highly with those from the 2nd experiment in which 40 subjects rated verbal pain descriptors by cross-modality matching to time duration and to hand-grip force. The ratio responses to the verbal descriptors in both experiments demonstrated specific functional relationships found for measurable psychophysical stimuli. The validity of cross-modality matched ratio scales of verbal stimuli was supported. The reliability of these scales is shown by the high between-session, between-group and between-experiment correlations. The objectivity is shown by the similarity of within-subject and between-subject correlations for both group and individual descriptor scales.

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