A Comparison of Three Pain Assessment Scales in the Assessment of Pain Among Dental Patients in Port Harcourt

Proper assessment of pain is essential in evaluating the appropriate treatment need of patients presenting with dental conditions. This study aimed to determine the correlation between Short Form McGill pain questionnaire 2 (SF-MPQ-2), Visual analogue Scale (VAS) and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for pain assessment among dental patients. A total of 83 patients that presented at the Oral Diagnosis clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital with various dental conditions over 2 months were recruited for the study. The severity of the different presenting conditions was determined using SF-MPQ-2, VAS and NRS. The mean pain assessment scores for the different dental conditions was compared and Pearson correlation coefficient was evaluated for the three pain assessment scales. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean age of the study participants was 38.2 ± 14.0 years with age range of 16 to 83 years. The mean VAS and NRS scores were significantly higher in those diagnosed with acute apical periodontitis with mean scores of 6.68±2.36 and 6.61±2.06 respectively. The participants with cancer had the lowest SF-MPQ-2 mean scores while those with chronic periodontitis have the lowest score using VAS and NRS. There was a significant strong, positive correlation between VAS and NRS pain assessment tools. The correlation between SF-MPQ-2 and either VAS/NRS was however, weak but positive and statistically significant. Severity of pain was highest among those with acute apical periodontitis using the three pain assessment tools. There was a significant positive correlation between SF-MPQ-2, VAS and NRS for dental pain assessment.