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Assessment of Pain Behaviors

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Encyclopedia of Pain

Synonyms

Analysis of Pain Behavior; Observation of Pain Behavior; Recording of Pain Behavior

Definition

Patients who have pain exhibit a variety of behaviors that serve to communicate the fact that pain is being experienced. These behaviors have been termed pain behaviors (Fordyce 1976). Pain behaviors can be verbal (e.g. verbal descriptions of the intensity, location, and quality of pain; vocalizations of distress; moaning, or complaining) or nonverbal (e.g. withdrawing from activities, taking pain medication, or pain related body postures or facial expressions). Fordyce (1976) was one of the first to address the importance of pain behaviors. According to Fordyce's operant behavioral model, pain behaviors that initially occur in response to acute injury are sometimes maintained over much longer periods of time because they lead to reinforcing consequences. For example, a brief period of bed rest can be adaptive in response to acute pain, but when pain persists, excessive bed rest can...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pain Prevention and Treatment Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Francis J. Keefe & Rebecca W. Pryor

Authors
  1. Francis J. Keefe
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  2. Rebecca W. Pryor
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA

    William D. Willis

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Keefe, F., Pryor, R. (2007). Assessment of Pain Behaviors. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_302

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_302

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43957-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29805-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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