Hi everyone.

I've been lurking on this site for many years, and recently I came up with something I thought I should share with you.

Like many of you I keep a headache diary, and until last week I've been using the Kip scale to record the level of pain felt. I did feel there were some problems with that scale however. For one thing I felt the resolution was too high, which meant I could never figure out if, for example, my pain was a 4 or a 5. Another problem was that it seemed that there were too many levels at the bottom of the scale compared with at the top (consider - sleep is "not an option" up at level 7).

So, here is my (hopefully easier to use and better balanced) 5 point scale:

Level 1: Minor (shadows). Can be ignored. (Kip 1 - 3)

Level 2: Starting to get bad - want to be left alone. Can be slept through. (Kip 4 - 5)

Level 3: Considerable pain. Rationed medication (eg Sumatriptan) should be considered. (Kip 6 - 7)

Level 4: Whimpering, sobbing, rocking. "Why me?" Nose running/eye tearing. (Kip 8 - 9)

Level 5: Major pain, screaming, head banging, ER trip. Depressed. Suicidal. (Kip 10)

One can convert a score from the Kip scale to my 5 point scale by:

• Dividing the Kip score by 2
• Rounding down
• Having a minimum of 1

Or for computer programmers:

What does everyone think?

Nick

Why fix what isn't broken.

Cheers
Barry

In fact, a better proposal would be for you to use your new scale and multiply by 2 any time you report on it.

The KIP Scale works just fine for me.

God Bless Bob Kipple, May him R.I.P

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Brew wrote on Jan 17^th, 2012 at 8:15pm:

My point about balance is that the Kip scale is like an inverse Richter scale - it has a lot of points for the low pain levels when it should have them at the high levels.

I believe the Kip scale can be improved upon, which is why I spent time thinking about it. My scale works for me, and maybe it can work for other people too.

jon019 wrote on Jan 17^th, 2012 at 8:37pm:

You're right, the Kip scale is not known by doctors (many of which don't know what cluster headaches are in the first place ). The faces scale (Wong Baker scale) has 5 faces showing pain (plus one for no pain), and corresponds quite well with my levels 1 to 5.

NickG wrote on Jan 18^th, 2012 at 3:26am:


Once you've a reasonable data sample it doesn't make too much difference if a single data point is a 4 or a 5, however the more you reduce the size of the scale, i.e. from a 0-10 scale to a 1-5 scale, the more significant the impact of a value just above or below the actual intended value.

The field of error analysis is very interesting and sometimes non-intuitive. A good primer can be found at Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or .

I like the Kip scale.  Hell, I liked Kip and Judy, too. 


With clusters, I reduce it to two.

1.  It might be.

2.  It is.  Do something now, you know the ladder of numbers describing short time.




From your scale:

Level 1: Minor (shadows). Can be ignored. [not a great idea]

Level 3: Considerable pain.

Beyond:  I was stupid again.  How long have I been on this site?

Of course this is just my take on me.


When it's felt, description resides in familiarity.

I typically classify the pain in two ways:

1- I can take it.

2- Oh crap...

I agree with Mike on this one.  The important thing is the trend.  When one finds the trend is getting worse it is time to start taking steps to improve on the abortives and to look into increasing the preventatives.  The numbers are helpful if you are tracking, but beyond that are somewhat useless.

Jerry

Edited for proper attribution.