Abstract
The challenge of measuring pain
Highlights
As the results of experimental studies can depend on different dimensions of the symptom at the moment of the evaluation, pain can be felt in a peculiar way by each patient
What do patients understand when describing the magnitude of the pain they are feeling? Do they refer to the sensorial intensity, to the presence of specific sensorial qualities, or to their suffering, anxiety, anguish? Would the pain records be usually associated with one of these dimensions, or do their meaning vary among individuals? If the study of the pain sensation needs to have a scientific basis, it is essential to measure it
In case there is the need to know the efficacy of different analgesic drugs, we need numbers, comparable objective data, so, over time, we can say if the pain has somehow decreased
Summary
Pain is an experience described in terms of sensorial, motivational, and cognitive characteristics and, many times, with emotional sequelae. That is why the use of many pain measurements, such as the multidimensional scales and questionnaires, result, partially, from the recognition and evaluation of its different components and dimensions. In the past, a myriad of studies on the subject and its analgesia have considered pain as a unitary dimension, varying only in intensity.
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