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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology pp 2093–2096Cite as

McGill Pain Questionnaire

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Synonyms

MPQ, SF-MPQ, SF-MPQ-2

Description

The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) consists of 20 groups of single-word descriptors categorized into three main descriptor classes: sensory (ten items), affective (five items), and evaluative (one item), along with three miscellaneous items. Each item group contains between two and six words, and word groups are arranged in rank order from the word that reflects the least pain to the one that indicates the worst pain. The patient selects only those words that describe the pain at the time the questionnaire is administered (Melzak 1975a, b). Examples include: flickering-quivering-pulsing-throbbing-beating-pounding; jumping-flashing-shooting; hot-burning-scalding-searing; fearful-frightful-terrifying; annoying-troublesome-miserable-intense-unbearable.

The MPQ yields three main types of scores (Melzak 1975a, b). A “Pain Rating Index” (PRI) can be calculated for individual descriptor classes or for all categories combined and is the sum of the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Cheryl L. Shigaki

  2. Neuropsychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Andrew Menatti

Authors
  1. Cheryl L. Shigaki
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  2. Andrew Menatti
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Menatti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Independent Practice, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Shigaki, C.L., Menatti, A. (2018). McGill Pain Questionnaire. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1993

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