Comparative analysis of the effectiveness of SF-MPQ-2 and VAS for assessing the severity of pain syndrome in dental patients in the postoperative period

Abstract

Conducting a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire-2 (SF-MPQ-2) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for assessing the severity of pain syndrome in dental patients in the postoperative period in dynamics. The study included 51 patients who received dental surgical treatment. Two groups of patients were formed, depending on the type of surgery and the degree of trauma of the operation. Group 1 - low degree of injury - 28 patients; group 2 - high degree of injury - 23 patients. Patients independently filled out questionnaires at four stages of the study: before surgery, on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days after surgery as part of scheduled visits. In patients of group 2, the severity of pain symptoms was higher than in patients of group 1 in terms of pain symptoms on SF-MPQ-2 at all stages of the study, except the day before surgery. At the same time, there were no differences with the indicators of the VAS scale at any of the stages of the study. The most informative indicators of SF-MPQ-2 are the total indicator MPQ-Sum and the constant pain indicator MPQ-Const, which were significantly higher in group 2 on the 1st day after surgery, taking into account the correction for gender and age. The highest level of coincidence of indicators on VAS and the total score on MPQ-Sum was revealed on the 5th day of the operation, regardless of the degree of trauma of the operation. The use of SF-MPQ-2 with a detailed description of pain sensations is the most acceptable way to assess the degree of pain syndrome in operative surgery, especially during the period when the severity of pain symptoms is maximum (in the first days of the postoperative period).