Pain Assessment

The ideal approach to pain assessment includes a balance of both subjective and objective outcome measures such as interview, patient observation without touching, hands-on assessment, and the use of metrology instruments (pain scales) validated through rigorous methodology. An individual, human or animal, can determine where pain exists in the body and the intensity of that pain. However, the emotional response to pain is more variable and not directly measurable even to the pain sufferer. Chronic pain may be overlooked by virtue of its protracted development and the adaptive coping common in canine patients. Pain assessment is approached methodically and must consider patient conditions including systemic illness, sedation, and drug effects to ensure proper intervention. Subjective pain assessment scales for scoring, documenting, and reporting pain are called instruments. The most useful have undergone a process of validation, which is rigorous and must include construct, criterion, face, and content validity.