The visual analogue scale is the simplest pain measure there is, and the easiest to get wrong on a screen. This template uses a 0 to 100 slider with anchors and no preset marker, so participants place their own answer.
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Pain today
Evening diary · Day 12
Mark how bad your pain has been over the last 24 hours
Did you take rescue medication today?
VAS pain scale at a glance
The scale
On paper the VAS is a 100 mm line and a ruler. Its appeal is sensitivity: participants are not forced into categories, so small changes are visible. Its weaknesses are practical. Some participants, especially older people or those with visual or motor difficulties, find it harder to use than a numbered scale, and on paper the measurement step adds a transcription risk.
Moving the VAS onto a screen removes the ruler, but introduces new risks. Screen widths differ, so the score has to be stored as a proportion of the line (0 to 100), not as millimetres on a particular device. And many slider controls start at the midpoint, which quietly biases answers towards 50. The template solves both: scores are stored 0 to 100 and the marker starts empty.
Pain now, average pain over the last 24 hours and worst pain over the last week measure different things. Choose the one that matches your endpoint, put it in the question itself, and use the same wording at every administration. For daily diaries, "over the last 24 hours" completed at the same time each evening is a common choice.
The 11-point numeric rating scale (0 to 10) is easier for many participants, easy to read aloud by phone, and widely used in pain trials. The VAS offers finer resolution. If you have no specific reason to use a VAS, discuss an NRS with your statistician; if you do use a VAS, keep it consistent across the program. The pain diary template uses a numeric scale.
Average pain, last 24 h
46 / 100
Daily diaries
Pain trials usually average daily scores over a week rather than relying on a single visit rating. Capture runs the VAS as a recurring diary with a completion window each evening, reminders that respect quiet hours, and compliance visible on the dashboard, because a weekly average built from three entries is not much of an average.
At-risk participants
Any device
Participants use their own phone in the browser, or a clinic tablet at visits, in portrait or landscape. Controls are touch-sized and the score is stored on the same 0 to 100 scale whatever the screen width.
How much pain do you feel right now?
How much pain do you feel right now?
NoneMildModerateSevereBuild a daily pain diary with a VAS in the sandbox and complete it tonight.
As an endpoint
Pain intensity is the primary endpoint in most analgesic trials, and how it is summarised matters as much as how it is collected. A single rating at a clinic visit is noisy; the mean of daily ratings over a week is far more stable. Most chronic pain trials therefore collect daily scores and analyse the weekly average, with a baseline week before randomisation.
Alongside mean change, pain trials commonly report the proportion of participants achieving at least a 30% reduction (often described as moderately important) and at least a 50% reduction (substantial), following widely cited consensus recommendations for chronic pain trials. Pre-specify them in the analysis plan.
If participants may take rescue analgesics, pain scores on those days reflect the rescue drug as well as the study treatment. Ask about rescue medication on the same daily diary, so the analysis can handle it as the estimand requires.
Many protocols require a minimum average baseline pain (for example moderate pain on most days of the baseline week) and a minimum number of completed diary days. Building those rules on data captured in the diary, rather than on a single screening rating, reduces enrolment of participants whose pain is too variable to show a treatment effect.
Before go-live
Same anchor text and recall period in every administration.
Participants place the marker themselves; confirm in the preview.
Same time each day, with an evening completion window and reminders.
A yes or no question on the same diary.
Minimum baseline pain and minimum diary days before randomisation.
30% and 50% reductions, or your protocol's own thresholds.
It is the position of the participant's mark along the line, from 0 at the "no pain" end to 100 at the "worst pain imaginable" end.
Commonly used ranges are 0 to 4 no pain, 5 to 44 mild, 45 to 74 moderate and 75 to 100 severe.
A preset position anchors participants towards it. Capture's visual analogue scales have no preset value, so the participant places the marker.
No. It is a generic scale format. Specific named instruments that include a VAS may have their own licensing.
Both are widely accepted. The 0 to 10 NRS is easier for many participants; the VAS offers finer resolution. Keep the choice consistent across your program.
Yes. Schedule it as a recurring questionnaire with a daily completion window and reminders.
Keep exploring
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A VAS with no preset value, on any phone. Free sandbox, no credit card.