Posted by baseball55 on April 29, 2013, at 19:44:41
In reply to Re: 1-10 » Dinah, posted by SLS on April 29, 2013, at 8:00:24
I think you should randomly choose a baseline score (say 5) and then report on whether symptoms are better or worse than that and how much better or worse. So a lot better might be a 2, a lot worse a 9. 10 is the worst you've ever felt, not the worst someone else has ever felt. It's a subjective scale by definition.
I recently have had hip problems and had to rate my pain for the doctor. I rated it a 5 out of 10. When I told my husband this, he laughed and said, well I don't feel so sorry for you if it's only a 5. But for me a 10 is the worst pain I ever felt which was when I got out of surgery for my ankle. That was so severe, I needed morphine. Compared to that, this pain is minor, but still debilitating.
poster:baseball55
thread:1042759
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20130309/msgs/1042918.html