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Definition of Visual Analog Scale

The way people perceive pain --- regardless of age, gender or race --- is extremely subjective. Medical personnel need a tool to determine how much each patient experiences. The visual analog scale (VAS) was developed for just that purpose.

  1. Identification

    • The visual analog scale (VAS) consists of a card or piece of paper with a 10-centimeter line drawn on it. One end of the line is labeled No Pain and the other end is marked Pain As Bad As Possible. Patients are asked to rate their pain level while at rest, during activity and after movement, then show where their pain falls on the line between None and Worst Possible Pain.

    Origin

    • Originally, pain scales contained 101 pain levels, but some studies found that most people couldn't accurately distinguish between that many pain levels. Patients could, however, rate their pain on a scale of 0 (none) to 10 (worst imaginable pain) with 10 pain levels in between at one centimeter intervals.

    Benefits

    • The VAS helps medical personnel determine each patient's precise pain level before, during and after movement, which makes it easier to prescribe the correct dosage of pain medicine. Patients don't receive more or less medication than they actually need.

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