Physical Therapy Toolbox: Visual Analog Scale

The Visual Analoge Scale (VAS) is a measurement instrument used in rehabilitation to measure the amount of pain that a patient feels ranging from none to maximum.

From the patient's perspective this scale appears continuous; therefore, their pain does not increase or decrease in jumps, such as the options of none, mild, moderate and severe suggest. It was to capture this idea of an underlying continuum that the VAS was devised.

The VAS is a horizontal line 100mm long with descriptive words at each end. The patient is asked to mark on the line the point that they feel represents their pain level at that specific time.

The VAS score is determined by measuring in millimetres from the left hand end of the line to the point that the patient marks.

The VAS is highly subjective, and this scale is of the most value when looking at a change within the same patient rather than comparing across a group of individuals at one time point.

Physical Therapy Toolbox Pain Scale [PDF]

Supporting Research



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