Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2010 May-Jun;15(3):163-8.
doi: 10.1155/2010/475907.

Postoperative self-report of pain in children: interscale agreement, response to analgesic, and preference for a faces scale and a visual analogue scale

Clément de Tovar  1 , Carl L von Baeyer, Chantal Wood, Jean-Pierre Alibeu, Malik Houfani, Charles Arvieux
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Postoperative self-report of pain in children: interscale agreement, response to analgesic, and preference for a faces scale and a visual analogue scale

Clément de Tovar et al. Pain Res Manag. 2010 May-Jun.

Abstract
in English, French

Objective: To augment available validation data for the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R) and to assess interscale agreement and preference in comparison with the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS) in pediatric acute pain.

Method: The present prospective, multicentre study included 131 inpatients five to 15 years of age (mean age 8.8 years; 56% male) seen in postoperative recovery. They provided CAS and FPS-R pain scores before and after administration of analgesic medication. Nurses and physicians used the same tools as observational scales. Children and health care providers indicated which scale they preferred.

Results: FPS-R scores for the intensity of postoperative pain correlated highly with the corresponding CAS scores in all age groups (0.66 <or= r <or= 0.88). There were no significant mean differences in any age group between the scales. Scores on the two scales differed by 210 or less in 81% to 91% of children, depending on age. Both scales demonstrated expected changes in postoperative pain following administration of an analgesic. Scores at the upper end point were given by approximately 20% of children five to six years of age on both scales, compared with 2% to 9% in the older age groups. Health care providers' observational ratings were significantly lower than self-ratings. The FPS-R was preferred over the CAS by most children in all age groups and both sexes. Global satisfaction of the health care providers was similar for both tools.

Discussion: These results support the use of the FPS-R for most children five years of age or older in the postoperative period. Further research is needed to identify young children, particularly those younger than seven years of age, who have difficulty with self-report tools, and to establish methods for training them in the reliable use of these measures.

OBJECTIF :: Augmenter les données de validation disponibles pour l’échelle Faces Pain Scale – Revised (FPS-R), évaluer la concordance entre les échelles et la préférence par rapport à une échelle analogique colorée (Coloured Analogue Scale [CAS]) lors de douleurs aigues chez l’enfant.

METHODOLOGIE :: Cette étude prospective multicentrique a inclus 131 patients hospitalisés âgés de cinq à 15 ans (moyenne 8,8 ans; 56 % de garçons) vus en salle de surveillance post-interventionelle. Ils ont évalué leur douleur avec le CAS et la FPS-R avant et après l’administration d’antalgiques. Les infirmières et les médecins ont utilisé les mêmes échelles comme outils d’hétéro-évaluation. Les enfants et les soignants ont indiqué quelle échelle ils préféraient.

RÉSULTATS :: Les scores de douleur postopératoire obtenus par la FPS-R étaient fortement corrélés avec les scores obtenus par la CAS dans tous les groupes d’âge (0,66 ≤ r ≤ 0,88). On ne remarquait pas de différence significative entre les échelles selon le groupe d’âge. Les différences de scores obtenus par ces deux échelles étaient de 2/10 ou moins chez 81 % à 91 % des enfants en fonction de leur âge. Les deux échelles montraient des modifications attendues après l’administration d’un antalgique. Environ 20 % des enfants de cinq à six ans donnaient un score correspondant aux valeurs supérieures sur les deux échelles par rapport à 2 % à 9 % dans les groupes des enfants plus âgés. Les scores d’hétéro-évaluation des soignants ont été sensiblement inférieurs à ceux obtenus par l’auto-évaluation. La FPS-R a été préférée au CAS par la plupart des enfants quel que soit leur âge ou leur sexe. La satisfaction globale des soignants a été similaire pour les deux outils.

DISCUSSION :: Ces résultats plaident en faveur de l’utilisation de la FPS-R pour la plupart des enfants âgés de cinq ans ou plus en période postopératoire. Des recherches supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour identifier les jeunes enfants, en particulier ceux au-dessous de sept ans, qui ont des difficultés à s’auto-évaluer, et pour trouver des méthodes pour les former à mieux utiliser ces échelles.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1)
Figure 1)
Scatter plots and correlations of self-ratings on the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS) and the Faces Pain Scale – Revised by age group (in years). Larger boxes indicate larger numbers of patients. The Faces Pain Scale – Revised is reproduced with permission; copyright 2001, International Association for the Study of Pain (also at www.painsourcebook.ca)
Figure 2)
Figure 2)
End point bias for the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS) and the Faces Pain Scale – Revised (FPS-R) by age group. Percentages of scores are at the top and bottom ends of the scale. For FPS-R, end point percentages are shown for scores 0 and 10; for CAS, percentages are shown for scores in the top and bottom 5% of the scale range
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Stinson JN, Kavanagh T, Yamada J, Gill N, Stevens B. Systematic review of the psychometric properties, interpretability and feasibility of self-report pain intensity measures for use in clinical trials in children and adolescents. Pain. 2006;125:143–57. - PubMed
    1. von Baeyer CL. Children’s self-reports of pain intensity: Scale selection, limitations and interpretation. Pain Res Manage. 2006;11:157–62. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hicks CL, von Baeyer CL, Spafford PA, van Korlaar I, Goodenough B. The Faces Pain Scale-Revised: Toward a common metric in pediatric pain measurement. Pain. 2001;93:173–83. - PubMed
    1. Bieri D, Reeve RA, Champion GD, Addicoat L, Ziegler JB. The Faces Pain Scale for the self-assessment of the severity of pain experienced by children: Development, initial validation, and preliminary investigation for ratio scale properties. Pain. 1990;41:139–50. - PubMed
    1. Chambers CT, Craig KD. An intrusive impact of anchors in children’s faces pain scales. Pain. 1998;78:27–37. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources