Efficient pain assessment in clinical settings
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Updated: Oct 23, 2026

Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery
Published on: April 14, 2016
1Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23284-2018.
Abstract:
The need for efficient and practical assessment techniques of the multidimensional nature of chronic pain remains paramount in clinical settings. Visual analogue scales (VASs) and simple behavioral observation methods have been proposed as efficient, reliable, and valid measures of the subjective (sensory and affective) and overt behavioral aspects of the pain experience. The relationships among VASs and the UAB Pain Behavior Scale were examined among 48 chronic pain patients. Ratings of overt behavior were significantly related to both the VAS sensory and VAS affective ratings. Regression analysis indicated that the VAS scores accounted for significant amount of the variance (27.7%) in UAB scores. Moreover, the affective dimension of self-reported pain tended to be more strongly related to the visible manifestations of pain than were ratings of pain intensity.
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