Esther Queen Mokhuane
Pain is a multidimensional phenomenon and the primary objective of all assessment tools is to gather accurate, subjective and objective information relevant to the pain that the patient is experiencing. This information plays a vital role in the diagnostic process and the treatment given to the patient. Thus it is of paramount importance that these pain measures are valid and reliable. Measures of pain are predominately developed in Western countries. This study investigated pre-surgical moods and their effect on acute pain following surgery including the reliability and validity of the Profile of Mood State (POMS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Wisconsin Brief Pain Questionnaire (WBPQ). These measures in particular have been developed in the United States of America and had to be adapted to the South African context using Setswana-speaking participants at George Mukhari Hospital formerly known as Ga-Rankuwa Hospital in South Africa. A biographical questionnaire was developed by the researcher for gathering background information of the participants. The POMS and the WBPQ were translated from English to Setswana using back-translation and were administered to a sample of 58 patients pre-operatively. VAS and WBPQ were administered post-operatively. The POMS was administered to determine the relationship of mood states to postoperative pain. Correlations were calculated between the six mood states scales that showed acceptable reliability but divergent validity was not confirmed. Concurrent and predictive validity between VAS and WBPQ was high and both measures have reasonable repeated-measures reliability.
