Process / pipelineSingle-item pain intensity rating
Numeric Rating Scale for Pain
The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) is a single-item, self-report measure of pain intensity developed by Jensen and colleagues in 1986. Patients rate their pain on an 11-point scale (0-10) where 0 represents no pain and 10 represents the worst pain imaginable. The NRS is among the most widely used pain severity measures in clinical practice and research due to its simplicity, rapid administration, and robust measurement properties.
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Sources
- Jensen, M. P., Karoly, P., & Braver, S. (1986). The measurement of clinical pain intensity: a comparison of six methods. Pain, 27(3), 297-307. DOI: 10.1016/0304-3959(86)90087-4 ↗
- Jensen, M. P., Turner, J. A., & Romano, J. M. (2001). Changes in beliefs, catastrophizing, and coping are associated with improvement in multidisciplinary pain treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(4), 655-662. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.69.4.655 ↗
- Hawker, G. A., Mian, S. O., Kendzerska, T., & French, M. (2011). Measures of adult pain: Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS), Numeric Rating Scale for Pain (NRS), McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Arthritis Care & Research, 63(S11), S240-S252. DOI: 10.1002/acr.20543 ↗