Validating Pediatric Pain Measurement

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of children aged eight to 12 years to differentiate between the sensory and affective components of pain and to rate both components on three measurement scales. The Wong Faces Scale, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and a verbal numeric scale were used. A Word Sort Task tested the children's comprehension of pain sensation and emotion. Seven of ten correct answers were required for acceptance into the study. The three scales were used to rate preoperative and postoperative pain after osteotomy or spinal fusion. Results showed the children correctly sorted the pain descriptors, used the scales to measure imaginary pain appropriately, and rated preoperative and postoperative pain as expected clinically. The conclusions were that children can differentiate between the components of pain and can use the scales to rate both sensory and affective components of preoperative and postoperative pain. The scales demonstrated good predictive validity (p < 0.007) and high concurrent validity when measuring real pain (P > 0.007).