Topic 4 DQ 2: What are the advantages and disadvantages of physiological measures, behavioral assessments, and self-report measures of pain? PDF

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Describe the advantages and disadvantages of physiological measures, behavioral assessments, and self-report measures of pain. What are physiological, self-report, and behavioral measures of pain and their advantages and inconvenient?...

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Topic 4 DQ 2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of physiological measures, behavioral assessments, and self-report measures of pain? Good management of pain and establishing an effective and lasting treatment require an accurate degree of what the person feels and experience as pain. Several approaches allow this to be done with all advantages but also disadvantages. Physiologically, professionals use tools such as an electromyograph, an electroencephalograph, or an autonomic activity to assess pain factors such as muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure, or respiratory rate. (Sarafino & Smith, 2017). These tools provide a current and objective rate of pain and can be used when the patient cannot give a self-report like in small children or patients who cannot talk. However, because the physiological measures of pain use instruments to get the information, it may be stressful and cause physiological changes in the person that will affect the result. For example, an ECG has some potential actions in the brain. In addition, it needs trained professionals to do it. Behavioral assessment is the reading of how the person conducts himself toward pain. It is done with the person’s everyday activities or in clinical sessions. In clinical, some instruments like the UAB Pain Behavior Scale consist of rating the patient behaviors using a 10-items measure of pain on a three point-scale (none, occasional, frequent). The nurse instructs the patient to perform a series of activities while he rates behaviors such as medication use, mobility, or other complaints. Then he adds them up to get a final score. The patient or his family member can also rate how he behaves at home during his daily activities with a pain Behaviors. Self-Report questionnaire. This tool is fast and easy to use but relies on the observer's interpretation and may be biased. For example, the observer can overrate or underrate the pain. (Sarafino & Smith, 2017). The Self-report measures of pain are a frequent and objective tool to measure the pain. It includes interviews, rating scales or diaries, and pain questionnaires. Examples include the visual

analog, numeric rating, verbal scale, or the McGill questionnaires. All these tools are productive, simple, and easy to use. It provides the intensity of the pain and even detects if the patient is truthful. For example, a patient can even assess his pain. Despite that, a self-report can be biased because the patient reports his own experiences of pain and may lie about it. Some patients may misunderstand the questions. (Sarafino & Smith, 2017).

Sarafino, E., & Smith, T. (2017). Health psychology: Biopsychosocial interactions (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN-13: 9781119299486...