A Mixed Methods Exploration of the Use of Pain Measures (Version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Mixed Methods Exploration of how Inpatients use the Verbal Rating Scale of Pain
IRAS ID
209181
Contact name
Luke Bosdet
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2016/07/68 , UCL Data Protection Registration
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study aims to explore how the Verbal Rating Scale, a common pain measure, is used by patients while on a hospital ward. We aim to recruit people who are inpatients at University College London Hospital (UCLH).
The first part of the study involves an interview to understand the decision making process of how people decide which answer to give when being asked to rate their pain. Pain consists of many different emotional (e.g. distress, anxiety) and sensory (e.g. quality or intensity) elements which require different clinical interventions. In particular, pain distress does not respond well to pain killers. By understanding how the pain measure is used in a real setting, we hope to add to the knowledge of how clinicians should respond to patients in pain. The interviews will be recorded and analysed using a process called Thematic Analysis.
The second part involves a hand written task that explores how people understand the categories in the pain measure itself. The measure asks people to rate their pain from no pain, mild, moderate, severe or very severe. We are interested in the 'distances' between categories on the pain measure and what meaning each category has. For example, that a change from moderate to mild pain is the same as a change from severe to moderate pain. A better understanding of this would add to pain research that uses the Verbal Rating Scales and help clinicians evaluate the successes of pain interventions.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0417
Date of REC Opinion
27 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion