Purpose
The NPRS measures the subjective intensity of pain.
Link to Instrument
Area of Assessment
PainAssessment Type
Patient Reported OutcomesAdministration Mode
Paper & PencilCost
FreeDiagnosis/Conditions
- Pain Management
The NPRS measures the subjective intensity of pain.
1
Less than 3 minutes
Adult
18 - 64
yearsElderly Adult
65 +
yearsInitially reviewed by Krista Van Der Laan, PT, DPT, OCS; Updated by Rachel Tappan, PT, NCS, Eileen Tseng, PT, DPT, NCS, and the SCI EDGE task force of the Neurology Section of the APTA in 7/2012.
Recommendations for use of the instrument from the Neurology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Multiple Sclerosis Taskforce (MSEDGE), Parkinson’s Taskforce (PD EDGE), Spinal Cord Injury Taskforce (PD EDGE), Stroke Taskforce (StrokEDGE), Traumatic Brain Injury Taskforce (TBI EDGE), and Vestibular Taskforce (Vestibular EDGE) are listed below. These recommendations were developed by a panel of research and clinical experts using a modified Delphi process.
For detailed information about how recommendations were made, please visit:
Abbreviations: |
|
HR |
Highly Recommend |
R |
Recommend |
LS / UR |
Reasonable to use, but limited study in target group / Unable to Recommend |
NR |
Not Recommended |
Recommendations for use based on acuity level of the patient:
|
Acute (CVA < 2 months post) (SCI < 1 month post) (Vestibular < 6 weeks post) |
Subacute (CVA 2 to 6 months) (SCI 3 to 6 months) |
Chronic (> 6 months) |
SCI EDGE |
R |
R |
HR |
Recommendations based on SCI AIS Classification:
|
AIS A/B |
AIS C/D |
SCI EDGE |
R |
R |
Recommendations for entry-level physical therapy education and use in research:
|
Students should learn to administer this tool? (Y/N) |
Students should be exposed to tool? (Y/N) |
Appropriate for use in intervention research studies? (Y/N) |
Is additional research warranted for this tool (Y/N) |
SCI EDGE |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Not reported |
Herr et al. (2004) recommend use of a Verbal Descriptor Scale over the NPRS based on evidence related to failures, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, scale sensitivity, and patient preference.
Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: (Salaffi et al, 2004; n = 825 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain)
Shoulder Pain: (Michener et al., 2011; n = 136; surgical and non-surgical conditions; mean age 51.7(16.4) years; 76.5% no surgery,23.5% status post surgery; assessment of average NPRS scores for at rest, normal activity, and strenuous activity)
Chronic Pain: (Farrar et al, 2001; n = 2,724 subjects with varying diagnoses including fibromyalgia, diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, chronic low back pain and osteoarthritis)
Chronic Pain: (Jensen & McFarland, 1993; n = 200; mean age = 43.83 (13.2) years; mean time since pain onset = 6.13 (8.24) years)
Chronic Pain: (Jensen & McFarland, 1993)
Shoulder Pain: (Michener et al., 2011)
Chronic SCI: (Hanley et al, 2006a; n = 82; mean age = 41.44 (10.14) years; 54% cervical SCI, 38% thoracic SCI, 7% lumbar/sacral SCI; average pretreatment pain intensity = 5.27 (1.79) on NPRS)
Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI): (Forchhemier MB et al, 2011; n = 6096; mean age = 32.5 (14) years; mean time since injury = 9.8 (9.3) years; all subjects had SCI and pain; injury level: 24.3% AIS D, 5.8% paraplegia AIS C, 5.0% paraplegia B, 29.8% paraplegia A, 7.0% tetraplegia AIS C, 8.0% tetraplegia AIS B, 20.1% tetraplegia AIS A)
Chronic SCI: (Hanley et al, 2006b; for questions about general pain: n = 307, mean age = 43.1 (13.0) years; for questions about worst pain: n = 174, mean age = 41.6 (13.6) years; inclusion criteria of SCI >6 months)
Convergent Validity:
Traumatic SCI: (Dijkers, 2010; n = 168; mean 38(18) years; level of injury: 10% paraplegia incomplete, 26% paraplegia complete, 45% tetraplegia incomplete, 19% tetraplegia complete)
SCI: (Bryce et al, 2007; n = 50 health care providers attending the 2006 combined American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA)/International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) scientific meeting)
Post-operative Patients: (Sloman et al, 2006; n = 150; mean age = 47.2 years; 56% post-abdominal surgery, 28.6% post-orthopedic surgery, 15.4% other types of surgery)
Hospital/Emergency Room Population: (Bijur et al, 2003; n = 108; mean age = 44 years; participants presented with acute pain in the emergency room department)
Healthy Populations: (Herr et al, 2004; n = 175 total, 86 subjects aged 25-55 years (mean age = 39.1 (8.8) years), 89 subjects aged 65-94 years (mean age = 76.0 (7.4) years))
Healthy Populations: (Herr et al, 2004)
Concurrent Validity:
Healthy Populations: (Herr et al, 2004)
Convergent Validity:
Hospital/Emergency Room Population: (Bijur et al, 2003)
Healthy Population: (Herr et al, 2004)
Healthy Population: (Herr et al, 2004)
Lower Back Pain: (Childs et al, 2005; n = 131; mean age = 33.9 (11) years; patients receiving physical therapy; 87% with symptoms for under 6 weeks)
Lower Back Pain: (Childs et al, 2005)
Lower Back Pain: (Childs et al, 2005)
Lower Back Pain: (Childs et al, 2005)
Bijur, P. E., Latimer, C. T., et al. (2003). "Validation of a verbally administered numerical rating scale of acute pain for use in the emergency department." Acad Emerg Med 10(4): 390-392.
Bryce, T. N., Budh, C. N., et al. (2007). "Pain after spinal cord injury: an evidence-based review for clinical practice and research. Report of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation 嫩B研究院 Spinal Cord Injury Measures meeting." J Spinal Cord Med 30(5): 421-440.
Childs, J. D., Piva, S. R., et al. (2005). "Responsiveness of the numeric pain rating scale in patients with low back pain." Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 30(11): 1331-1334.
Dijkers, M. (2010). "Comparing quantification of pain severity by verbal rating and numeric rating scales." J Spinal Cord Med 33(3): 232-242.
Farrar, J. T., Young, J. P., Jr., et al. (2001). "Clinical importance of changes in chronic pain intensity measured on an 11-point numerical pain rating scale." Pain 94(2): 149-158.
Forchheimer, M. B., Richards, J. S., et al. (2011). "Cut point determination in the measurement of pain and its relationship to psychosocial and functional measures after traumatic spinal cord injury: a retrospective model spinal cord injury system analysis." Arch Phys Med Rehabil 92(3): 419-424.
Hanley, M. A., Jensen, M. P., et al. (2006). "Clinically significant change in pain intensity ratings in persons with spinal cord injury or amputation." Clin J Pain 22(1): 25-31.
Hanley, M. A., Masedo, A., et al. (2006). "Pain interference in persons with spinal cord injury: classification of mild, moderate, and severe pain." J Pain 7(2): 129-133.
Herr, K. A., Spratt, K., et al. (2004). "Pain intensity assessment in older adults: use of experimental pain to compare psychometric properties and usability of selected pain scales with younger adults." Clin J Pain 20(4): 207-219.
Jensen, M. P., & McFarland, C. A. (1993). "Increasing the reliability and validity of pain intensity measurement in chronic pain patients." Pain 55(2): 195-203.
Michener, L. A., Snyder, A. R., et al. (2011). "Responsiveness of the numeric pain rating scale in patients with shoulder pain and the effect of surgical status." J Sport Rehabil 20(1): 115-128.
Salaffi, F., Stancati, A., et al. (2004). "Minimal clinically important changes in chronic musculoskeletal pain intensity measured on a numerical rating scale." Eur J Pain 8(4): 283-291.
Sloman, R., Wruble, A. W., et al. (2006). "Determination of clinically meaningful levels of pain reduction in patients experiencing acute postoperative pain." Pain Manag Nurs 7(4): 153-158.
Stratford, P. W., & Spadoni, G. (2001). "FEATURE ARTICLES-The reliability, consistency, and clinical application of a numeric pain rating scale." Physiotherapy Canada 53(2): 88-91.
Williamson, A., & Hoggart, B. (2005). "Pain: a review of three commonly used pain rating scales." J Clin Nurs 14(7): 798-804.
We have reviewed more than 500 instruments for use with a number of diagnoses including stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury among several others.