On possibility of using pain questionnaires and scales in clinical practice (a literature review)

Abstract

Pain is one of the main, and sometimes the only, reason for visiting a doctor, therefore, in order to establish a diagnosis and provide effective treatment, it is important to correctly and objectively assess this condition of the patient, but the perception of pain is a very subjective phenomenon, so it is necessary to develop ways of qualitative and quantitative assessment of pain sensations. The World Health Organization has defined pain as «an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage». Pain sensations have both physical and psychological aspects that need to be considered when assessing and treating pain. Objectification of pain is a challenging yet important task for the clinician. Pain perception is a versatile field of study at present, as each person evaluates pain sensations completely differently. Currently, various methods of assessing pain sensation have been described, among which a separate place is allocated to scales and questionnaires. The disadvantages of all scales and questionnaires are their limitations; only one scale cannot be used to obtain a detailed picture of the patient's condition, and the use of only one type of questionnaire does not cover all aspects of the pain syndrome and does not take into account the individual characteristics of the patient. There are modern technical methods of pain intensity assessment, but their high cost and insufficient distribution in clinical practice limit their use. After a detailed study of the problem of pain syndrome assessment, we can conclude that this topic is in demand in modern medicine and still remains open for innovations.