BioPsychoSocial Assessment Tools for the Elderly - Assessment Summary Sheet Test: Pain and Distress Scale (PAD) Year: 1983 Domain: Psychological Assessment Tool Category: Pain, Mental Health Variations/Translations: N/A Assessment Setting: Clinical Method of Delivery: Self-administered questionnaire Description: PAD was intended as a brief measurement of mood and behaviour changes that may be associated with acute pain. It does not directly assess the severity of pain itself. It describes physical and emotional reactions that may be attributed to pain. These include limitations in activities of daily living and psychological responses such as agitation, depression and decreased alertness. PAD contains 20 items reflecting problems that commonly accompany pain. One item covers pain; six reflect mood changes and 13 items cover behavioural changes. Scoring/Interpretation: Questions use 4-point frequency response scales; higher scores denote more frequent symptoms. The time reference is not fixed; any appropriate period (e.g. past week) may be used. The scores for each question are summed and expressed as a percentage of the max attainable score. Time to Administer: N/A Availability: Available as a Table in below noted reference. Software: N/A Website: N/A Quantitative/Qualitative: Quantitative Validity (Quantitative): A comparison of pain patients and controls showed each item discriminated significantly (p<0.01) between them. A discriminant function analysis identified 11 items (both mood and behaviour changes) that discriminated with a sensitivity of 84.4% and specificity of 99.5%. A factor analysis identified 6 factors that cut across the conceptual assignment of items. Reliability (Quantitative): An alpha internal consistency of 0.89 was reported. References: Zung, W.W.K. (1983). A self-rating Pain and Distress Scale. Psychosomatics, 24, 887-894. Comments: Very little information is available on the reliability and validity of the PAD scale.