The science of pain measurement and the frustration of clinical pain assessment: does an individualized numerical rating scale bridge the gap for children with intellectual disabilities?

摘要

The problem of pain in individuals who have intellectual disabilities (IDs) has drawn increasing attention over the past decade. Despite the fact that the majority of studies have focussed on developing scientifically valid clinical pain assessment tools, a struggle in this area continues to be the pull between clinical utility and psychometric soundness. Given the frustration of managing pain in this group in the clinical setting, this is completely understandable. Clinical utility rests on two factors, ease of use and generalization within the population of people with ID who may have an exceptional range of verbal, social, intellectual and physical limitations.