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
Review
. 2014 Apr;19(2):109-18.
doi: 10.1111/jspn.12069. Epub 2014 Mar 11.

A review of pain measures for hospitalized children with cognitive impairment

Quinn R Crosta  1 , Teresa M Ward, Amy J Walker, Lisa M Peters
Affiliations
Review

A review of pain measures for hospitalized children with cognitive impairment

Quinn R Crosta et al. J Spec Pediatr Nurs. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: The aims of this review were to examine pain measures for hospitalized children with cognitive impairment who are unable to self-report and to describe the best available evidence for their clinical utility in acute care settings.

Design and methods: Electronic searches to identify published evidence were conducted and studies reviewed. Reported psychometrics and feasibility of the Non-Communicating Child's Pain Checklist-Postoperative Version, Individualized Numeric Rating scale, Pediatric Pain Profile, and revised Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, and Consolability scale were examined.

Conclusions: These four measures have established validity and reliability. However, clinical utility findings varied.

Practice implications: The revised Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, and Consolability scale has demonstrated feasibility in acute care settings related to ease of use, time requirements, and flexibility regarding caregiver input.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; communication disorder; developmental delay; developmental disability; intellectual disability; language disability; learning disability; nonverbal; pain assessment; pain measures; review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bottos S, Chambers CT. Epidemiology of pain in developmental disabilities. In: Oberlander TF, Symons FJ, editors. Pain in children and adults with developmental disabilities. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD: 2006. pp. 67–87.
    1. Boyle CA, Boulet S, Schieve LA, Cohen RA, Blumberg SJ, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Kogan MD. Trends in the prevalence of developmental disabilities in U.S. children, 1997–2008. Pediatrics. 2011;127:1034–1042. doi:10.1542/peds.2010-2989. - PubMed
    1. Breau LM, Camfiled CS, McGrath PJ, Finley A. The incidence of pain in children with severe cognitive impairments. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. 2003;157:1219–1226. - PubMed
    1. Breau LM, Finely GA, McGrath PJ, Camfield CS. Validation of the noncommunicating children's pain checklist-postoperative version. Anesthesiology. 2002;96:528–535. - PubMed
    1. Chen-Lim ML, Zarnowsky C, Green R, Schaffer S, Holtzer B, Ely E. Optimizing the assessment of pain in children who are cognitively impaired through the quality improvement process. Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 2012;27(6):750–759. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2012.03.023. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources