Rating scale used to determine the degree of conditions or stimuli (i.e., pain) a patient is experiencing. Visual analog scales represent a line with clearly defined endpoints expressing on one side of the scale the absence of stimuli (i.e., no pain) while the opposite side represents the highest degree of stimuli (i.e., worst pain ever). The pain or stimuli perception is marked by making a point along the line.
An instrument used to quantify a subjective experience, such as the intensity of pain. A commonly used visual analog scale is a 10-cm line labeled with “worst pain imaginable” on the left border and “no pain” on the right border. The patient is instructed to make a mark along the line to represent the intensity of pain currently being experienced. The clinician records the distance of the mark in centimeters from the right end of the scale.
A standard instrument for measuring pain in humans: a straight line, 10 centimeters long, with the words NO PAIN at one extreme (numbered 0) and Worst pain imaginable at the other (numbered 10). The subject rates his or her pain by making a mark at the appropriate point on the scale.