In assessing pain, which scale is commonly used with adults?

The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) is commonly used with adults to assess pain because of its simplicity and effectiveness. The NRS typically involves asking patients to rate their pain on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 represents no pain and 10 represents the worst pain imaginable. This straightforward approach allows clinicians to quickly gauge the severity of a patient's pain, facilitating better treatment and management decisions.

The NRS is particularly beneficial in clinical settings due to its ease of use, allowing patients to quickly convey their pain level without the need for complex descriptions. It has been widely validated in various populations, making it a reliable choice for measuring pain intensity.

While other scales, like the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and McGill Pain Questionnaire, are also used in pain assessment, the NRS is favored in many clinical settings due to its concise and direct method of obtaining a patient's subjective pain experience. Narrative Pain Scales, while useful for gathering more detailed descriptions of pain, are less commonly used in straightforward clinical assessments aimed at quickly quantifying pain levels.