What is a visual analog scale used for?

A tool used to help a person rate the intensity of certain sensations and feelings, such as pain. The visual analog scale for pain is a straight line with one end meaning no pain and the other end meaning the worst pain imaginable.

Is the visual analog scale reliable?

Conclusion: The majority of the studies showed that visual analogue scale is a valid and reliable scale. Also, it is an interval scale. So, in clinical practice we can use this scale in case of pain measurement as an outcome measure tool.

Is the VAS valid and reliable?

The VAS is a commonly used assessment instrument for pain intensity in rehabilitation, which has proved to be reliable and valid (Crossley et al., 2004). It would be useful to have a single-item instrument for the assessment of disability.

What is the VAS pain scale?

The visual analog scale (VAS) is a tool widely used to measure pain. A patient is asked to indicate his/her perceived pain intensity (most commonly) along a 100 mm horizontal line, and this rating is then measured from the left edge (=VAS score).

Is visual analog scale ordinal?

To evaluate the degree of pain, a Likert-type scale, such as numerical rating scale (NRS) or visual analog scale (VAS), is frequently used. Those scales are generally categorized as ordinal scales which means that parametric statistics are not appropriate for those scales.

What type of scale is visual analog scale?

The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) (Fig. 18-1) is most commonly a straight 100-mm line, without demarcation, that has the words “no pain” at the left-most end and “worst pain imaginable” (or something similar) at the right-most end.

Is visual analog scale continuous?

This continuous (or “analogue”) aspect of the scale differentiates it from discrete scales such as the Likert scale. There is evidence showing that visual analogue scales have superior metrical characteristics than discrete scales, thus a wider range of statistical methods can be applied to the measurements.

What is a good VAS score?

The findings suggested that 100-mm VAS ratings of 0 to 4 mm can be considered no pain; 5 to 44 mm, mild pain; 45 to 74 mm, moderate pain; and 75 to 100 mm, severe pain.

What is the difference between VAS and NRS?

Using VAS, the patient defines the degree of pain on a visual scale without numeric values, while the values are visible on the back side for the registrar. NRS is a verbal numeric scale, where the patient grades their own pain on a scale between 0 and 10.

How do you administer visual analog scales?

Visual analogue scales Patients place a mark on the scale that corresponds to their pain. The distance (usually in mm) from the lower end of the scale is then measured and recorded.

What type of variable is a visual analog scale?

Nunnally and Bernstein [6] have found that if the number of categories in the subordinate scale is more than 7–11, the total score could be treated as an interval scale. Some statisticians have shown that applying parametric statistics to ordinal scales is acceptable.

What type of data is the visual analog scale?

A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured. It is often used in epidemiologic and clinical research to measure the intensity or frequency of various symptoms.