Evaluation of Effectiveness of Graphics Interchange Format and Wong–Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale as Pain Assessment Tool in Children

Abstract

The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the graphics interchange format (GIF) as a self-reporting pain assessment tool in children. In this in vivo observational study, pain assessment of 42 children aged 7-13 years with a chief complaint of dental pain reporting the first time to the Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Government Dental College & Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, were included. Informed consent was obtained from the parents or guardians. All the responses were obtained by a single practitioner, after showing the respective self-reporting pain scale, that is, Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (WBFPRS) and GIF pain scale. A questionnaire study was performed at the end of the study. The data were recorded, and then statistical analyses were performed. Both scales showed significant differences (p = 0.001*) when scales were individually compared to the actual pain intensity experienced by the patient. Both WBFPRS and GIF pain scales have shown non-significant differences (p = 0.155). The GIF pain scale has shown very strong relationship (r = 0.936, p = 0.001*), while WBFPRS showed strong relationship (r = 0.725, p = 0.001*). The GIF pain scale has shown almost perfect agreement (k = 0.911) whereas WBFPRS has shown substantial agreement (k = 0.710) with actual pain intensity. In the questionnaire study, most children strongly agreed that the GIF pain scale is easier to understand than WBFPRS. The GIF pain scale is a very promising self-report pain assessment tool for children. Further research on improving the GIF pain scale is very important. The newly devised GIF pain scale seems to be a very promising self-report pain scale for effective determination of pain experienced by the patient.