Trial of a New Pain Assessment Tool in Patients With Low Education: The Full Cup Test

U. Ergün; B. Say; G. Ozer; O. Yildirim; O. Kocatürk; D. Konar; C. Kudiaki; L. Inan

Int J Clin Pract. 2007;102(11):2448-2457.

Summary

Aims and Scope: Pain is subjective and pain assessment depends on the patient's self-report. The measurement of pain needs simple tools, especially in patients with low education. There are limited reports about pain assessment in this type of patient. The aims of the present study were to develop a pain scale that is easy for patients with low education to understand and to evaluate its usefulness in these patients.
Methods: A total of 128 adult non-demented patients presenting with headaches or rheumatologic pain were included in this study. The first phase of the study involved 114 patients and aimed to estimate the usefulness of the full cup test (FCT) compared with the visual analogue scale (VAS). The second phase of the study involved 23 patients with headaches selected randomly from the 114 patients and assessed the usefulness of the FCT for detecting changes in pain levels. The third phase of the study involved 14 patients with low education suffering from headaches and examined the usefulness of the FCT in these patients.
Results: The mean VAS and FCT scores were statistically correlated and reliable and did not differ significantly. Patients with low education understood the FCT more easily than the VAS.
Conclusion: We concluded that the FCT is useful for both assessing and differentiating changes in pain, and is suitable for assessing pain in patients with low education.

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Table 1. Patient Demographics ( n = 128)
Phases	Number of patients (n)	Mean age (years ± SD)	Mean MMSE (± SD)	Mean education year (± SD)	Types of pain
Phases	Number of patients (n)	Mean age (years ± SD)	Mean MMSE (± SD)	Mean education year (± SD)	Headache (n)	Rheumatologic pain (n)
1	114	42.37 ± 15.58	29.80 ± 0.60	9.23 ± 3.79	75	39
2	23*	40.60 ± 16.63	29.82 ± 0.57	8.86 ± 3.53	23	−
3	14	50.57 ± 14.93	29.71 ± 0.61	1.85 ± 1.29	14	−

*Patients who presented with headaches were selected from the group of 114 patients randomly.

Table 2. Statistics of the Pain Scales Included in the First Phase of the Study ( n = 114)
	Mean VAS (± SD)	Mean FCT (± SD)	r	p	Cronbach's α
Total of patients (n = 114)	62.62 ± 18.51	63.59 ± 18.64	0.95	0.07	0.97
Headaches (n = 75)	63.86 ± 18.47	64.27 ± 18.76	0.95	0.52	0.97
Rheumatologic pain (n = 39)	59.82 ± 18.57	62.05 ± 18.52	0.95	0.02	0.97

FCT, full cup test; VAS, visual analogue scale.

Table 1. Patient Demographics ( n = 128)
Phases	Number of patients (n)	Mean age (years ± SD)	Mean MMSE (± SD)	Mean education year (± SD)	Types of pain
Phases	Number of patients (n)	Mean age (years ± SD)	Mean MMSE (± SD)	Mean education year (± SD)	Headache (n)	Rheumatologic pain (n)
1	114	42.37 ± 15.58	29.80 ± 0.60	9.23 ± 3.79	75	39
2	23*	40.60 ± 16.63	29.82 ± 0.57	8.86 ± 3.53	23	−
3	14	50.57 ± 14.93	29.71 ± 0.61	1.85 ± 1.29	14	−

*Patients who presented with headaches were selected from the group of 114 patients randomly.

Table 3. Statistics of the Pain Scales Included in the Second Phase of the Study ( n = 23*)
Mean VAS before analgesics (± SD)	Mean FCT before analgesics (± SD)	r	p	Cronbach's α	Mean VAS after analgesics (± SD)	Mean FCT after analgesics (± SD)	r	p	Cronbach's α
62.34 ± 19.72	61.43 ± 20.78	0.96	0.45	0.97	25.60 ± 16.14	24.78 ± 14.68	0.93	0.49	0.96

*Patients who presented with headaches were selected from the group of 114 patients randomly. FCT, full cup test; VAS, visual analogue scale.

Table 1. Patient Demographics ( n = 128)
Phases	Number of patients (n)	Mean age (years ± SD)	Mean MMSE (± SD)	Mean education year (± SD)	Types of pain
Phases	Number of patients (n)	Mean age (years ± SD)	Mean MMSE (± SD)	Mean education year (± SD)	Headache (n)	Rheumatologic pain (n)
1	114	42.37 ± 15.58	29.80 ± 0.60	9.23 ± 3.79	75	39
2	23*	40.60 ± 16.63	29.82 ± 0.57	8.86 ± 3.53	23	−
3	14	50.57 ± 14.93	29.71 ± 0.61	1.85 ± 1.29	14	−

*Patients who presented with headaches were selected from the group of 114 patients randomly.

Table 4. Statistics of Pain Scale Included in the Third Phase of the Study Which Composed of the Low Educated Patients ( n = 14)
Mean VAS (± SD)	Mean FCT (± SD)	r	p	Cronbach's α
67.09 ± 18.52	66.07 ± 15.71	0.94	0.55	0.97

FCT, full cup test; VAS, visual analogue scale.

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Trial of a New Pain Assessment Tool in Patients With Low Education: The Full Cup Test

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