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An Application of Bradley‐Terry‐Type Models to the Measurement of Pain
Author(s) -
Matthews J. N. S.,
Morris K. P.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of the royal statistical society: series c (applied statistics)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.205
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9876
pISSN - 0035-9254
DOI - 10.2307/2986348
Subject(s) - type (biology) , mathematics , statistics , geology , paleontology
SUMMARY A case‐study concerning the measurement of pain experienced in the administration of routine subcutaneous injections to patients undergoing regular haemodialysis is presented. The four treatments studied had a 2 times 2 factorial structure: one factor comprised two forms of the anaemia correcting substance erythropoietin, and the other whether an anaesthetic or placebo cream was applied to the injection site. On a visit to the dialysis unit, a patient is given two of the treatments, one in each arm, and asked to nominate the less painful injection; on a subsequent visit the patient is asked to compare the remaining treatments in a similar way. These paired comparisons are analysed by using a version of the Bradley‐Terry model which accommodates ties and order effects. Extensions to the method to allow for factorial treatments and dependent judgments are developed.