Numerical Cut Points Valid for Pain in Adult Burn Survivors

Among adults with burn injury, visual analog/numeric pain rating scale (VAS/NRS) scores for pain can be categorized as severe (6-10), moderate (3-5), and mild (0-2), according to a study published in Burns. Gretchen J. Carrougher, MN, RN, and colleagues sought to identify the most suitable average pain intensity rating scores in 253 patients. They administered a customized PROMIS Pain Interference short form and average pain intensity VAS/NRS scores (0-10) at 6, 12, and 24 months post-injury. They computed F values and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) statistics linked with multiple ANOVA comparisons for mean pain interference scores by various pain intensity cut points (CPs) to determine pain intensity scores that represent mild, moderate, and severe pain. The study team compared six CPs: CP 3,6; 3,7; 4,6; 4,7; 2,5; and 3,5; those with the highest ANOVA F statistics were considered optimal CPs. For mild, moderate, and severe pain, optimal classification was CP 2,5 at baseline and at 12 months. Although CP 3,6 had the highest F value at 6 months, there was no significant evidence to support CP 3,6 over CP 2,5 (BIC difference: 2.9).