Putting a price on pain, more precise than a scale of 1 to 10

ask people How much money would you accept in exchange for enduring pain? offers a more accurate and reliable way to measure discomfort than the usual scale from 1 to 10. This is confirmed by a study led by the University of Lancaster (United Kingdom) and published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

They participated in the investigation more than 300 volunteers between 18 and 60 years old, who were exposed to mild painful stimuli. They were asked to rate the intensity using the traditional numerical scale or that would indicate the financial compensation what they would need to repeat the experience. Additionally, a study was included analgesia: Some participants received a placebo and others a pain-relieving cream while facing the same stimuli.

The results revealed that the monetary measure distinguished more clearly the different levels of paindetected the effects of relief more consistently and allowed more significant comparisons between individuals.

The well-known question “Rate your pain from 1 to 10” It is widely used in clinical and research settings, but its limitations are well known. Each person interprets the scale differently, making it difficult to compare results between people or groups. On the contrary, the authors of the study state that Putting a price on suffering creates a common frame of reference.

“We’ve all been asked to rate our pain from one to ten, but one person’s three can be another’s five, and those numbers can vary with experience,” explains Professor Carlos Alós-Ferrer, from Lancaster University’s School of Management. “Our research proposes a better solution: turn pain into moneynot to commodify suffering, but to create a scale that we can all share“.

Professor Alós-Ferrer adds that although different people will assign different prices to the same discomfort, this is not a problem: “As a result, measurements are more precise and the variation from low to high levels of pain is clearly reflected on the monetary scale. “This is useful for clinical trials studying the effectiveness of painkillers and treatments, as participants are randomly assigned to different groups.”

Measuring pain well matters

The authors of the study affirm that it is important refine self-reported pain measurementsince an inaccurate assessment can lead to inadequate management, affecting the quality of life of those suffering from chronic diseases and generating a considerable burden on health systems.

For example, in the United States they spend annually more than $600 billion to treat painsurpassing the cost of treating heart disease and diabetes.

The authors suggest that their method provides a complementary approach to reliably measure pain experienced in different individuals and could open the door to future research that improves its measurement and management.