Closs, SJ, Knapp, P, Morley, S et al. (1 more author) (2015) Can pictorial images communicate the quality of pain successfully? British Journal of Pain. 1 - 8 (8). ISSN 2049-4637
Abstract
Chronic pain is common and difficult for patients to communicate to health professionals. It may include neuropathic elements which require specialised treatment. A little used approach to communicating the quality of pain is through the use of images. This study aimed to test the ability of a set of 12 images depicting different sensory pain qualities to successfully communicate those qualities. Images were presented to 25 student nurses and 38 design students. Students were asked to write down words or phrases describing the quality of pain they felt was being communicated by each image. They were asked to provide as many or as few as occurred to them. The images were extremely heterogeneous in their ability to convey qualities of pain accurately. Only two of the 12 images were correctly interpreted by more than 70% of the sample. There was a significant difference between the two student groups, with nurses being significantly better at interpreting the images than the design students. Clearly attention needs to be given not only to the content of images designed to depict the sensory qualities of pain, but also the differing audiences who may use them. Education, verbal ability, ethnicity and a multiplicity of other factors may influence the understanding and use of such images. Considerable work is needed to develop a set of images which is sufficiently culturally appropriate and effective for general use.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2015, Sage. This is an author produced version of a paper published in the British Journal of Pain. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Chronic pain; Pain assessment; Pain quality; Pain measurement; Images; Neuropathic pain; Communication |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Healthcare (Leeds) > Nursing Adult (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 11 Mar 2015 12:15 |
Last Modified: | 21 Apr 2015 11:38 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2049463715569805 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Sage |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/2049463715569805 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:83590 |