Psychometric Properties of the Pain Numeric Rating Scale When Applied to Multiple Body Regions among Professional Musicians.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite the broad popularity of a numeric rating scale (NRS) its psychometric properties are not well known. The objective was to determine if there is any difference in the discrimination ability of the NRS when used for measuring pain severity separately in different body regions.

Methods

Cross-sectional survey study of 630 professional musicians. Item Response Theory (IRT) was used to define the psychometric properties of the NRS.

Results

The discrimination ability of the pain NRS was dependent on the body area to which it was applied. The discrimination was low 0.5 (95% CI 0.4. to 0.7) for the hand region and perfect for the shoulder and upper part of the neck- 3.2 (95% CI 1.2 to 5.2) and 10.5 (95% CI 10.0 to 10.9), respectively. Both shoulder and neck

SUBMITTER: Saltychev M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5014406 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature