Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery
Published on: April 14, 2016
Do health care professionals underestimate severe pain more often than mild pain? Statistical pitfalls using a data
1Department of Medicine and Care, Division of Nursing Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden. evaid@ltkalmar.se
Rationale:
When comparing patients' pain ratings with the health care professional's conception of pain assessed by Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) ratings, statistical problems arise.
Method And Result:
In this data simulation study we have shown that the tendency for health care professionals to underestimate severe pain compared with mild pain is probably not attributed to difficulties in judging severe pain more often than mild but the result of professionals having a different and often narrower distribution of their ratings compared with patients.
Related Concept Videos
Analgesia and Pain Management
The Availability Heuristic