Correlative Study of Pain Rating Scales amongst Nigerian Dental Patients

OBJECTIVES: To examine the validity of the different pain rating scales in a sample of Nigerian patients undergoing routine dental extractions. METHODS: 106 Patients attending the Dental Hospital, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Nigeria for routine extraction of their tooth were recruited for the study. The subjects were instructed to indicate their current pain rating before extraction using each of these instruments [The verbal rating scale 1-4 or 1-5 intensity scales and the visual analogue scale]. All participants also completed a questionnaire that elicited both demographic and clinical parameters; data were fed into an IBM compatible computer using the SPSS soft ware version 11.020 and analyzed using correlations statistics. RESULTS: They were aged 16 to 70 years (mean+ SD; 30.96+ 10.8). Correlation analysis showed statistically significant positive relationships between the patient's scores on the VAS and VRS-4 (r=0.846, p<0.01), VAS and VRS-5 (r=0.816, p=0.01) and VRS-4 and VRS-5 (r=0.804, p<0.01). Correlation analysis also showed statistically significant relationships between the patient's scores on the VAS and VRS-4 (r=0.816, p<0.01), VAS and VRS-5 (r=0.807, p<0.01) and VRS-4 and VRS-5 (r=0.87, p<0.01). Of the 106 patients who had extractions, only 30 (28.3%) of them reported for postoperative evaluation. Their mean + SD postoperative pain rating on the VAS was 18.42+ 20.28 (range 1-66mm). CONCLUSION: The study findings reinforce the reliability and validity of these three instruments in the evaluation of pain amongst Nigerians undergoing routine dental extractions. This should stimulate and promote further research in the development and refinement of pain measurement techniques that will ultimately lead to increasingly accurate tools with greater predictive powers