The McGill Pain Questionnaire: major properties and scoring methods.

Area of Science:

• Pain research
• Psychometrics
• Clinical assessment

Background:

• Subjective pain experience is complex and challenging to quantify.
• Existing methods for pain assessment lack standardization and statistical rigor.
• The McGill Pain Questionnaire was developed to address these limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the administration and derived measures of the McGill Pain Questionnaire.
• To provide quantitative measures of subjective pain experience suitable for statistical analysis.
• To evaluate the questionnaire's sensitivity in detecting differences in pain relief methods.

Main Methods:

• The McGill Pain Questionnaire utilizes three classes of word descriptors: sensory, affective, and evaluative.
• It incorporates a present pain intensity scale (1-5) and other pain property measures.
• Data from 297 patients with various pain conditions were analyzed to derive correlation coefficients.

Main Results:

• Three major measures were identified: Pain Rating Index, number of words chosen, and Present Pain Intensity.
• Correlation coefficients among these measures were calculated and presented.
• An experimental study demonstrated the questionnaire's ability to yield statistically treatable quantitative information.

Conclusions:

• The McGill Pain Questionnaire provides reliable quantitative data on subjective pain.
• The questionnaire is sensitive enough to differentiate the effectiveness of various pain relief interventions.
• It serves as a valuable tool for clinical pain assessment and research.