Table 1 Interview data identifying pain scale feature

P1

I really squeezed my face

Faces

P2

I cry because of the pain …when there is no pain, I do not cry. Patients can use FACES scale if they have not been to school

N1

I used my fingers for the patient to indicate the number of fingers and the pain level.

Fingers with words

N6

…So you would say the thumb is very severe and the little finger is no pain

N2

I think maybe different colours can be used from no pain to very, very severe pain like white, green, yellow, blue, red and black in that order, he will be able to point to the colour representing the level of pain; …the very, very severe one can be black.

Colours with words

N3

…red will be for most severe because if you go around, red is mostly used for danger. So if you see red here it means there is something dangerous here so it alerts you

N2

…can also use different sizes of square boxes so patients can choose one

Squares with words

N3

I know about pain assessment, using the scale from 0 to 10, I show it to them and we usually do not do it anyway but if I am to do that, I will show the scale to them as 0 no pain at all 1, then it increases up to 10 and that being the most severe. So depending on how severe they think their pain is then they will choose one of the numbers then they will tell me which it is.

Numbers (0–10)

N7

…we draw circles with smallest representing, no pain in that order

Plain circles with words