An experimental basis for revising the graphic rating scale for pain

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Subjects [7] judged the differences between electrocutaneous shocks and words from 2 category rating lists describing those sensations in each of 2 difference estimation experiments. The electrocutaneous shocks used for the 2 experiments were 10 suprathreshold shock intensities determined separately for each subject. There were 2 distinct 7 word category rating lists. Both lists shared 6 common words; however, the 7th word made the rational ordering of the 2 lists different. Magnitude scales of meaning for the category rating words and sensory scales for the electrocutaneous shock intensities were determined for each of the 2 experiments for each subject using conjoint measurement analysis. Comparisons of the sensory scales for electrocutaneous shock between the 2 difference estimation experiments for each subject showed that they judged the electrocutaneous shocks similarly with the 2 word lists. This allowed for comparisons between the scales of meaning for the words from the category rating lists. The 2 word lists were not equivalent. There was substantial agreement among the subjects on characteristic spacings of quantitative values for the category rating items. Clinical rating scales used for analgesimetry should not assume homogeneity of spacing of category items.