[Visual circle scale (VCS)--a patient-friendly scale to measure pain compared to VAS and Likert scale]

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Pain Management
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Likert scale (LS) are common for pain assessment.
• Patients may encounter difficulties with VAS and LS, leading to potential calculation errors.
• The visual circle scale (VCS) offers a graphic, simplified grading system to improve understanding and calculation ease.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of the visual circle scale (VCS) against the visual analogue scale (VAS) and Likert scale (LS) for postoperative pain assessment in orthopaedic patients.
• To evaluate patient preference for the VCS, VAS, and LS based on simplicity, understanding, and global rating.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 65 orthopaedic patients (40 women, average age 66 years).
• 330 pain assessments were conducted using VCS, VAS, and LS.
• Patients rated the scales for simplicity, understanding, and global assessment via questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Average pain scores: VCS (44), LS (42.7), VAS (39.3).
• High correlation (Spearman's r > 0.89) was observed between all scales, indicating comparable measurement.
• Sensitivity for change was similar across all assessed scales.
• Over 50% of patients preferred the VCS for pain assessment.

Conclusions:

• The visual circle scale (VCS) demonstrates comparable pain measurement capabilities to established scales like VAS and LS in orthopaedic settings.
• The VCS is the preferred scale among patients due to its user-friendliness and ease of understanding.