A comparison of three scales for measuring pain in children with cognitive impairment

• DOI: 10.1111/apa.12748
• Publication Date: 2014-07-15T18:24:38Z
• Authors: Marta Massaro; Luca Ronfani; Giovanna Ferrara; Laura Badina; Rita Giorgi; Flavio D'Osualdo; Andrea Taddio; Egidio Barbi
• Keywords: Pain Assessment; Pain scale

Pain is a neglected problem in children with cognitive impairments, and few studies compare the clinical use of specific pain scales. We compared Non-Communicating Children's Checklist Postoperative Version (NCCPC-PV), Echelle Douleur Enfant San Salvador (DESS) Hospital Eastern Ontario Scale (CHEOPS). The first two were developed for impairment, third more general scale.Two external observers child's caregiver assessed 40 impairment levels. inter-rater agreement, correlation, dependence on knowledge behaviour, simplicity adequacy rating according to all three scales.The correlation between NCCPC-PV DESS was strong (Spearman coefficient = 0.76) better than each scale CHEOPS. Although showed it dependent familiarity child judged difficult by observers. easiest most appropriate pain.The assessment cognitively impaired should be adopted settings.