Abstract
A sample of ten pregnant Caucasian women, with an average age of 31,8 ±5,7 years, experiencing low back pain in the third trimester of pregnancy, rated the intensity of their pain on two commonly used pain rating scales: the horizontal visual analogue scale (VAS) and the eight-face pictorial pain scale (PPS). A mean of 3,1 ±2,5 cms was found using the VAS and a mean of 5(E) was obtained on the PPS. A product-moment correlation of the two scales showed a correlation of 0,84 (p = 0,001). This implies that both pain rating scales are able to measure a similar intensity of low back pain in pregnant women.
Highlights
Low back pain occurs during pregnancy, in the third trimester[1,3,6], Berg et alxstated that 49% of pregnant women in their study experienced such pain, while Mantle et at found 48% of their sample had low back pain
The average pain rating obtained with the visual analogue scale (VAS) was 3,1 ±2,5 cms and with the pictorial pain scale (PPS) was 5(E)
It is of interest to note that of the 130 women attending antenatal classes, consisting of a ratio of 1:1 second to third trimester pregnan cies, less than a quarter (16,2%) of them suffered from low back pain in the third trimester of pregnancy
Summary
Low back pain occurs during pregnancy, in the third trimester[1,3,6], Berg et alxstated that 49% of pregnant women in their study experienced such pain, while Mantle et at found 48% of their sample had low back pain. Fast et a/3stated that 56% of the pregnant women they studied developed low back pain which began between the fifth and seventh month of pregnancy (in the third trimester). None of these studies attempted to quantify the pain. Quantification of pain can be done using a number of pain rating scales, such as the simple descriptive scale2’ ; the four-point descrip tive scale[2]; the numerical (1-10) rating scale5- the visual analogue scale[2,4], and the eight-face pictorial pain scale4, Each of these scales has advantages and disadvantages. The descriptive scales are ofvalue in literate subjects 2,4,while the pictorial scales are best used by those subjects with limited education or with language difficulties2’4,5
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