Logo image
Back
A Critical Analysis of Women's Descriptions of Labor Pain Based on the McGill Pain Questionnaire
Journal article   Peer reviewed

A Critical Analysis of Women's Descriptions of Labor Pain Based on the McGill Pain Questionnaire

Stephanie Power, Fiona E Bogossian, Jenny Strong and Roland Sussex
International Journal of Childbirth, Vol.6(4), pp.223-233
2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1891/2156-5287.6.4.223
url
https://doi.org/10.1891/2156-5287.6.4.223View
Published Version

Abstract

Nursing Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine Other Medical and Health Sciences McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) pain descriptors pain language labor pain
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article was to examine childbirth (labor) pain language through an analysis of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) descriptors. METHOD: Language was extracted from 6 studies which used MPQ descriptors (and originally formed part of a larger interpretive review of pain assessment). MPQ descriptors are considered rich language data because they provide insight into the different qualities and dimensions of pain. An applied linguistic approach, which examines language in its real world context (in this instance, childbirth and midwifery) was used to analyze maternal language. FINDINGS: The MPQ descriptors conveyed sensory, affective, evaluative, and miscellaneous dimensions of the labor pain experience. Words were classified according to the semantic category of the descriptors (the associated meanings of pain words), parity, stage of labor, and the location of pain. Generalizations cannot be made from this small sample of maternal language; however, this analysis provides an introduction to maternal MPQ descriptors and gives insight into a possible association between maternal MPQ descriptors and words which may be used to represent other female pain events. CONCLUSION: The descriptors analyzed in this article revealed a rather homogeneous language; yet, they provided insight into the qualities and intensity of labor pain across women of different parity. Pain can be quantified in a numeric-verbal language, but the use of a pain measurement tool alone may lead to assumptions or underestimations of the individual nature of a woman's labor, which may impact on her pain management. An acknowledgment of a woman's labor as intimate and emotive is also needed, which is captured in the spontaneous language of her own account of labor.

Details

Metrics

259 Record Views
1 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Web Of Science research areas
Nursing

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#5 Gender Equality

Source: InCites

Logo image