To measure pain and then let pain speak for itself: The role of elicited and non-elicited verbal pain language in pain assessment across cultures

Standardised one dimensional pain measurement tools such as the Visual Analogue 5cale (VA5), numeric Rating Scale (fiR5) and Verbal Rating 5cale (VR5) are advantageous in situations where time is limited and Information is required quickly. The hR5 and VR5 can be administered verbally and used with a variety of populations, for example clients with cognitive impairment (Bird 2003).

Multidimensional tools such as the McGIII Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) potentially offer more Insight Into the pain experience combining a Pain Rating Index (PRI), Present Pain Intensity (PPI), and an Inventory of words describing affective, sensory and evaluative aspects. These pain tools may break a client's silence and extract descriptors that may act as an initial assessment. Therefore, these tools offer an elicited verbal pain language.

These tools, however, do not capture the pain experience in the...