[Change sensitivity and construct validity of the revised multi-dimensional pain scale]

Assessment and evaluation of perceived pain is an interdisciplinary task. This study focused on the change sensitivity and construct validity of the German version of the Revised Multidimensional Pain Scale (MSS).

In this experiment, 72 students were assigned to one of three treatments:a) Applying a blood pressure sphygmomanometry cuff with a maximum pressure of 300 mm Hg, b) or with a maximum pressure of 175 mm Hg, c) or a control condition, applying a cuff with no pressure. During the treatment, blood pressure was continuously non-invasively measured by the Penazmethod. At the end of the experiment, the subjects worked on the revised multidimensional pain scale, on the state/trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and a Likert-scale (range 1-28) for perceived pressure.

As expected, inflating the arm cuff induced a significant increase in pressure perception compared to the control group. However, only the subscales electrical and thermic of the MSS showed an increase across the treatment groups. No differences were found for the anxiety ratings. Correlation analysis showed that state anxiety was positively related with the subscales chronic, chemical, and thermic. Trait anxiety was related with the subscales chronic, inconvenient, and chemical. Systolic blood pressure increase was positively correlated with the subscale general of the MSS.

The study shows that the MSS has a limited change sensitivity for short term pain stimuli like arm cuff pressure. Anxiety was correlated with three subscales of the MSS, indicating that perceived pain intensity assessed with the MSS is more related to emotional factors rather to the physical intensity of the arm cuff pressure.