The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
-
J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Jul 2010
Correspondence of verbal descriptor and numeric rating scales for pain intensity: an item response theory calibration.
Assessing pain intensity in older adults is critical and challenging. There is debate about the most effective way to ask older adults to describe their pain severity, and clinicians vary in their preferred approaches, making comparison of pain intensity scores across settings difficult. ⋯ This IRT calibration provides a crosswalk between the two response scales so that either can be used in practice depending on the preference of the clinician and respondent.