Tswana speaking South Africans’ understanding of pain scales

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to establish the validity and reliability of the Tswanatranslations of three pain scales.Design: This was a cross–sectional study to validate and test the reliability of threepain scales.Participants:   One hundred subjects participated in the study. They were selectedfrom the back schools of five hospitals in the North -West Province of South A frica andfrom workers in these hospitals who were employed as kitchen workers, laundryworkers and cleaners.Method: Translation of the pain scales and the stages of cross-cultural adaptation were followed as recommended byBeaton et al (2000). Pain tolerance of the subjects was measured using a P.T.M. (pressure threshold meter). The painscales used were the V.A .S. (visual analogue scale) one (nought and ten only), the V.A .S. (visual analogue scale) two(nought through to ten), the W.B.F. (Wong-Baker Faces pain measure) and the V.R.S. (verbal rating scale).  The V.R.S.used came in two forms. The first form was written on cue cards which the subjects arranged in order and the second form was the questionnaire version of the V.R.S.The subjects were interviewed and asked five questions relating to their back pain. Upon completion of the interviewthe pressure threshold of the painful area (back) was tested. Subjects then filled in the three pain scales, namely the (V.A .S. one, V.A .S. two, the V.R.S. and lastly the W.B.F. pain scale). Approximately a third of the sample (37) was retested the following day following the same procedure asdescribed above. Results: There was no correlation between the pressure threshold meter readings and the pain scale measurements.  Conclusion: From the statistical analysis of the results, it became apparent that the subjects tested did not have anunderstanding of any of the three pain scales. Future research needs to be done in developing entirely different scales for peoples of low literacy and differentlanguage and cultural groups in South Africa.