Problem: Comprehensive diagnosis of pain comprises assessment of subjectively felt pain as one necessary component. Modern approaches are multidimensional (differentiation between sensory and affective parts; multiple sub-aspects of sensory pain) and go far beyond single-item-methods, whose utility remain questionable not only regarding the contents but for measurement purposes as well. One of these modern instruments of pain assessment, the Pain Experience Scale (German: Schmerzempfindungsskala, SES), served as original for the development of a computerized version. The study aimed to establish whether this computer version is equivalent to the paper-pencil original.
Methods: Fifty-eight pain patients were recruited on admission to an in-patient pain management program. Half of them filled out the paper-pencil scale first, then worked on the computerized version. The others did so in reverse order.
Results: Analyses of means revealed nearly identical scores for both versions. Correlational analyses (computation of reliabilities for parallel tests) showed excellent correspondence. Analyses of order of presentation showed no effect.
Conclusion: The two test versions are almost completely equivalent and can be used as a reliable tool in the practice of pain measurement. Moreover, validation data and questionnaire norms of the original version are completely applicable to the computerized version.