Reliability and validity of the Faces Pain Scale with older adults.

摘要

BACKGROUND: The Faces Pain Scale (FPS) is effective with older adults in clinical assessment of pain intensity. The 0-10 numerical rating scale (NRS) has universally adapted for assessment of pain intensity. The commonly used versions of the FPS have six, seven or nine faces. OBJECTIVES: We proposed an 11 face modified version of the McGrath nine face FPS to compare with the 0-10 NRS without the mathematical translation. The psychometric properties of the proposed version were also investigated in a sample of Korean older adults. DESIGN: This study employed methodological research design. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 31 older adults was recruited through local senior citizen centers to examine the construct validity and the test-retest reliability. For the concurrent validity testing, a sample of 85 older adults with chronic pain was recruited through a general hospital and an oriental medical hospital. METHODS: The construct validity was examined by determining if the subjects perceive the FPS as representing pain and they agree on the rank of each face. The test-retest reliability was examined at a 2-week interval. The concurrent validity was examined by using the NRS and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). RESULTS: Subjects perceived the 11 FPS as a pain measure, and the subjects' agreements in the rank ordering of the faces were almost perfect (Kendall's W = .93, p < .001). Cohen's kappa of .61 (p < .001) for test-retest reliability was acceptable in the cognitively intact subjects. Concurrent validity measured by the correlation between the FPS and the NRS (r = .73, p < .001) and the VAS (r .73, p < .001) was supported. CONCLUSIONS: These results supported the appropriateness of the 11 FPS for use with the older adults in clinical practice to measure pain intensity. Additionally, this study provided cross-cultural evidence to evaluate usefulness of the FPS.