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A study of the words used to describe pain
Author(s) -
Gaffney T. J.,
Foenander G.,
Reade P. C.,
Burrows G. D.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1834-7819.1987.tb00597.x
Subject(s) - value (mathematics) , visual analogue scale , scale (ratio) , medicine , psychology , natural language processing , physical therapy , computer science , machine learning , physics , quantum mechanics
To gain information concerning the possible diagnostic value of the words used to describe pain, 260 consecutive patients suffering from an acute pain were asked (1) for personal data; (2) to select the words they would use to describe their pain from a list of 104 words; and (3) to complete a visual analogue scale. The words were not interpreted before grouping but the data from each questionnaire were submitted to factor analysis for grouping. The results showed that the grouping of words represented valid and reliable factors of pain and indicated thereby the possibility of developing some useful diagnostic criteria from such an approach.