Nonmalignant chronic pain evaluation in the Turkish population as measured by the McGill Pain Questionnaire

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore how Turkish nonmalignant pain patients described their pain and how the language of pain used by Turkish patients compares to the language found in common pain assessment tools.

Objective: Pain is influenced by a combination of ethnic, cultural, psychological, and social variants. In the Turkish language, six words are central to pain-like experiences: ağri (pain), aci (suffering), sizi (aching), sanci (colic), istirap (agony), and dert (torture). We assessed discriminant characteristics of the Turkish translation of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ).

Methods: Chronic clinical nonmalignant pain patients (n = 319, 35.7% males, 64.3% females) were questioned with the Turkish translation of the MPQ. Pain symptoms were categorized as headache (33.5%), musculoskeletal pain (33.2%), visceral pain (18.8%), and low back pain (14.5%).

Results: The visceral pain group had the highest mean value in the evaluative subscale (2.6 +/- 1.9). Descriptions used for sensory subscale included throbbing, sharp, aching, and tingling, while affective subscale words included tiring, suffocating, sickening, cruel, and wretched. In all pain groups, frequently chosen words for the miscellaneous subscale were nagging and penetrating.

Conclusion: Pain descriptors were identified for each type of pain. This is, to our knowledge, the first assessment of the Turkish translation of the MPQ in nonmalignant pain patients.