The performance of three pain intensity scales and their preferences among Czech women with acute postoperative pain

Aim: The first aim was to compare the performance of three pain intensity scales, the combined Visual Analogue Scale / Numerical Rating Scale (VAS/NRS), NRS, and Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R), in Czech women in the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Intensive Care Unit. The second aim was to compare the women's overall pain scale preference rankings and preference rankings by education level and age. Design: The design was cross-sectional. Methods: Seventy-four women evaluated their acute postoperative pain using the three pain scales and subsequently ranked them according to ease of responding. The data were described and analysed using descriptive statistics and the Spearman rank order correlation coefficient. Results: Spearman correlations ranged from 0.905 (p < 0.001) between the VAS/NRS and the FPS-R to 0.945 (p < 0.001) between the VAS/NRS and the NRS. As for overall preference, the NRS and the FPS-R were ranked first (n = 32; 43% in both cases). Conclusion: Correlations across all three scales were high. Therefore, the scales appeared equivalent. Overall, preference rankings of the NRS and FPS-R were comparable and were better than those obtained for the VAS/NRS. Therefore, both scales could be recommended for clinical use in the Czech Republic