Abstract
Although we have many reports about the pain threshold mechanism and the method of objective assessment, there are so many factors which are not yet made clear.
Pain is an important warning signal for the maintenance of life and yet is also a sensory experience which the sufferer feels uncomfortable and wants to avoid, if possible.
This symptom of pain can not be co-experienced by a third person and can be confirmed by the latter only via complaints. Language of pain is used for the expression of this pain in terms of its nature and intensity.
However, there are many people who are suffering from pain in the clinics. The author believe that the health professional must identify the pain and must make accurate assessment of pain in regarding the intensity and nature of pain complained by patients. Then, to find a tool for the pain assessment, on college students, adults and old men groups, the author investigated pain intensities on the basis of their painful experiences, using a vocabulary of 33 words selected for the expression of pain. Each word have eleven-point scales from 0=free from pain to 10=unbearable pain. As a result, the pain intensity fell down with aging and all groups practically agreed in the arrangement of words expressing the pain intensity high or low.
Next, t-test of the intensity of each word by groups (p<0.01) revealed 16 words without significant difference. Both these intensities and attributes of these 16 words were schematized.
