J Korean Knee Soc.  2011 Mar;23(1):14-18. 10.5792/jkks.2011.23.1.14.

Correlation between the Likert Scale and the Numeric Rating Scale for Evaluating Knee Pain

• Choi CH
• Kim SH
• Lee YS
• Kang CN

• KMID: 2064582
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5792/jkks.2011.23.1.14

Abstract

PURPOSE
The Likert scale and the numeric rating scale (NRS) have been widely used to evaluate knee pain. The purpose of the present study is to compare the Likert scale and the NRS.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The records of 350 patients who had painful knees were investigated from June 2008 to June 2009. The patients were divided into three groups. Group 1 included 98 patients who were admitted for total knee replacement, while group 2 consisted of 141 patients who underwent total knee replacement within a minimum of 1 year (range: 1 to 5 year), and group 3 included 111 patients who were treated with conservative methods. We simultaneously evaluated the Likert scale and the NRS and we analyzed the relationships between them using Pearson's correlation test.
RESULTS
The correlation coefficients between the Likert scale and the NRS was -0.91. The correlation coefficients for each group was -0.75 (group 1), -0.78 (group 2), and -0.68 (group 3), respectively.
CONCLUSION
The Likert scale was correlated with the NRS and there were no significant differences between these two scales for evaluating knee pain. It is believed that the Likert scale is another useful tool for expressing knee pain.

Keyword

Knee; Pain; Likert scale; Numeric rating scale

MeSH Terms

Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee
Humans
Knee
Weights and Measures