Identifying Pain Assessment Preference across Different Pain Scales among Latino Patients

Introduction: As minorities culturally shift the demographics of this country, practitioners need to be culturally competent and understand the complexities of the populations for which they provide patient care. The ability to identifying pain scale preference among Latino's can improve accuracy in pain assessment and management among cultures. The purpose of this study was to identify a pain scale preference among Latino patients when conducting a musculoskeletal pain assessment. Methods: The study was based on a convenience sample of 80 patients of Latino origin that presented with musculoskeletal pain. Each patient was asked to rate their pain intensity using the Numeric rating scale (NRS), Word descriptor scale (WDS), Faces pain scale (FPS) and complete a 20 item survey on sociodemographics and pain characteristics in either English or Spanish to determine pain scale preference. Results: The study revealed evidence that Latinos preferred the image based visual pain scale (FPS) over the visual numeric rating scale (NRS). Females had a higher preference towards the FPS and males toward the WDS when measuring pain intensity. Females thought the FPS more effectively described their pain whereas, males leaned towards the WDS and both genders found the NRS the hardest scale to describe pain, however, more females disliked this scale. Discussion: The study suggests that the preferred pain assessment measure among Latinos is the Faces Pain Scale and supports the need for further research on pain and culture, health disparities and the need for providers to become more culturally sensitive when assessing musculoskeletal pain.