Chester C. Buckenmaier|Kevin T. Galloway|Rosemary C. Polomano|Mary Joan McDuffie|Nancy Kwon|Rollin M. Gallagher
Preliminary Validation of the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) in a Military Population
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center|Defense & Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management
army surgeon general released pain management task force final report may 2010 among military providers concerns raised standard numeric rating scale nrs pain inconsistently administered questionable clinical value response defense veterans pain rating scale dvprs developedthe instrument design integrates pain rating scale features improve interpretability incremental pain intensity levels improve communication documentation across transitions care convenience sample 350 inpatient outpatient active duty retired military service members participated study walter reed army medical center participants completed fiveitem dvprsone pain intensity nrs without word descriptors presented random order four supplemental items measuring general activity sleep mood level stress brief pain inventory seven interference items using systematic sampling random sample selected word descriptor validation procedure matching word phases corresponding pain intensity nrsparallel forms reliability concurrent validity testing demonstrated robust correlation dvprs presented word descriptors first correlation two ratings slightly higher r 0929 n 171 p 0001 ordering first without descriptors r 0882 n 177 p 0001 intraclass correlation coefficient 0943 showing excellent alignment word descriptors respondents n 42 matching correctly pain levelthe dvprs tool demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties military population