Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

HCII 2020: Cross-Cultural Design. Applications in Health, Learning, Communication, and Creativity pp 176–190Cite as

Chinese Pain Descriptors Used by Medical Personnel: A Case Study in Beijing

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12193))

Abstract

Pain compels patients to visit doctors and is an inevitable topic of discussion between doctors and patients. The objective of the study was to investigate Chinese pain descriptors and explore their characteristics among 93 medical personnel in Beijing. This study used a questionnaire to collect Chinese pain descriptors used by medical personnel with more than two years of clinical experience. By qualitative analysis, 68 types of pain descriptors were identified from 801 descriptors and classified into 6 domains: sensory, affective, intensity, cause, physical effect, and temporal. Sensory pain descriptors were mentioned most frequently by the medical personnel (70.8%), whereas affective pain descriptors were mentioned least frequently (1.2%). The result revealed that medical personnel in Beijing seldom used affective descriptors, indicating that they tried to avoid their personal emotions when expressing pain. Based on the pain descriptors used by Chinese medical personnel, this study designed a visual pain assessment tool.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Melzack, R.: The McGill pain questionnaire: major properties and scoring methods. Pain 1, 277–299 (1975)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Melzack, R.: The short-form McGill pain questionnaire. Pain 30, 191–197 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Solcová, I., Jakoubek, B., Sýkora, J., Hník, P.: Characterization of vertebrogenic pain using the short form of the McGill pain questionnaire. Casopís Lékar̆ů C̆eských. 129, 1611 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Burckhardt, C., Bjelle, A.: A Swedish version of the short-form McGill pain questionnaire. Scand. J. Rheumatol. 23, 77–81 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Georgoudis, G., Watson, P.J., Oldham, J.A.: The development and validation of a Greek version of the short-form McGill pain questionnaire. Eur. J. Pain 4, 275–281 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee, H., Nicholson, L.L., Adams, R.D., Maher, C.G., Halaki, M., Bae, S.S.: Development and psychometric testing of Korean language versions of 4 neck pain and disability questionnaires. Spine 31, 1841–1845 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kitisomprayoonkul, W., Klaphajone, J., Kovindha, A.: Thai short-form McGill pain questionnaire. J. Med. Assoc. Thail. 89, 846–853 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Strand, L.I., Ljunggren, A.E., Bogen, B., Ask, T., Johnsen, T.B.: The short-form McGill pain questionnaire as an outcome measure: test-retest reliability and responsiveness to change. Eur. J. Pain 12, 917–925 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dworkin, R.H., et al.: Development and initial validation of an expanded and revised version of the short-form McGill pain questionnaire (SF-MPQ-2). PAIN® 144, 35–42 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Dworkin, R.H., et al.: Validation of the short-form McGill pain questionnaire-2 (SF-MPQ-2) in acute low back pain. J. Pain Off. J. Am. Pain Soc. 16, 357–366 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wang, J.L., Zhang, W.J., Gao, M., Zhang, S., Tian, D.H., Chen, J.: A cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the short-form McGill pain questionnaire-2: Chinese version in patients with chronic visceral pain. J. Pain Res. 10, 121–128 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Coggon, D., et al.: Drivers of international variation in prevalence of disabling low back pain: findings from the CUPID study. Eur. J. Pain 23, 35–45 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Young, J.R., Sih, C., Hogg, M.M., Anderson-Montoya, B.L., Fasano, H.T.: Qualitative assessment of face validity and cross-cultural acceptability of the faces pain scale: “revised” in cameroon. Qual. Health Res. 28, 832 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Peacock, M.S., Patel, M.S.: Cultural influences on pain. Rev. Pain 1, 6 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kenny, A.: Wittgenstein. Harmondsworth, Pelican Books (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Chen, C.H., Tang, S.T., Chen, C.H.: Meta-analysis of cultural differences in Western and Asian patient-perceived barriers to managing cancer pain. Palliat. Med. 26, 206–221 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Moore, R., Miller, M.L., Weinstein, P., Dworkin, S.F., Liou, H.: Cultural perceptions of pain and pain coping among patients and dentists. Commun. Dent. Oral Epidemiol. 14, 327–333 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Moore, R., Brødsgaard, I., Miller, M.L., Mao, T.-K., Dworkin, S.F.: Consensus analysis: Reliability, validity, and informant accuracy in use of American and Mandarin Chinese pain descriptors. Ann. Behav. Med. 19, 295–300 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Tan, E.L.C.: Pain description of hospitalized Chinese Canadian and non-Chinese Canadian school-aged children (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hsieh, A.Y., Tripp, D.A., Ji, L.J., Sullivan, M.J.L.: Comparisons of catastrophizing, pain attitudes, and cold-pressor pain experience between Chinese and European Canadian young adults. J. Pain 11, 1187–1194 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Rau, C.-L., et al.: Pain quality descriptors and sex-related differences in patients with shoulder pain. J. Pain Res. 11, 1803 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Tsai, Y.-F., Tsai, H.-H., Lai, Y.-H., Chu, T.-L.: Pain prevalence, experiences and management strategies among the elderly in Taiwanese nursing homes. J. Pain Symptom Manag. 28, 579–584 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Chung, W., Wong, C., Yang, J., Tan, P.: The use of cantonese pain descriptors among healthy young adults in Hong Kong. Acta Anaesthesiol. Sin. 36, S1–S11 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Wang, L., Luo, A.-L., Zhang, Z.-X., Liu, L.-Y., Xu, Z.-H., Ren, H.-Z.: Investigation on the pain describing words in Chinese. Chin. J. Pain Med. 2, 193–199 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Liu, X., Rohrer, W., Luo, A., Fang, Z., He, T., Xie, W.: Doctor–patient communication skills training in mainland China: a systematic review of the literature. Patient Educ. Couns. 98, 3–14 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Lu, L., et al.: Prevalence of workplace violence against health-care professionals in China: a comprehensive meta-analysis of observational surveys. Trauma Violence Abuse 21, 498–509 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Sun, N., Rau, P.-L.P.: Barriers to improve physician–patient communication in a primary care setting: perspectives of Chinese physicians. Health Psychol. Behav. Med. 5, 166–176 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Ting, X., Yong, B., Yin, L., Mi, T.: Patient perception and the barriers to practicing patient-centered communication: a survey and in-depth interview of Chinese patients and physicians. Patient Educ. Couns. 99, 364–369 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Tung, W.-C., Li, Z.: Pain beliefs and behaviors among Chinese. Home Health Care Manag. Pract. 27, 95–97 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Merskey, H., Bogduk, N.: Classification of chronic pain: descriptions of chronic pain syndromes and definitions of pain terms. In: Taxonomy IAftSoPTFo. IASP Press, Seattle WA, USA (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Linl, C.-P., Kupperl, A.E., Gammaitonil, A.R., Galerl, B.S., Jensenl, M.P.: Frequency of chronic pain descriptors: implications for assessment of pain quality. Eur. J. Pain 15, 628–633 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Eleanor, H.: Developing a cultural model of caregiving obligations for elderly Chinese wives. West. J. Nurs. Res. 27, 457–464 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Bond, M.H.: Emotions and their expression in Chinese culture. J. Nonverbal Behav. 17, 245–262 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Kleinman, A.: Neurasthenia and depression: a study of somatization and culture in China. Cult. Med. Psychiatry 6, 117–190 (1982)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Parker, G., Gladstone, G., Chee, K.T.: Depression in the planet’s largest ethnic group: the Chinese. Am. J. Psychiatry 158, 857–864 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Detmar, S.B., Muller, M.J., Wever, L.D., Schornagel, J.H., Aaronson, N.K.: Patient-physician communication during outpatient palliative treatment visits: an observational study. JAMA 285, 1351–1357 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Hallenbeck, J.: Pain and intercultural communication. In: Moore, R.J. (ed.) Handbook of Pain and Palliative Care, pp. 19–34. Springer, New York (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1651-8_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 71661167006).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Pei-Luen Patrick Rau, Zhi Guo & Runting Zhong

  2. School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Runting Zhong

  3. Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Soulki Kim

Authors
  1. Pei-Luen Patrick Rau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhi Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Runting Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Soulki Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Runting Zhong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Pei-Luen Patrick Rau

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Rau, PL.P., Guo, Z., Zhong, R., Kim, S. (2020). Chinese Pain Descriptors Used by Medical Personnel: A Case Study in Beijing. In: Rau, PL. (eds) Cross-Cultural Design. Applications in Health, Learning, Communication, and Creativity. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12193. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49913-6_15

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49913-6_15

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49912-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49913-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation