Measuring Children's self-Assessment of Pain

Abstract

This exploratory study examined children's self-assessment of the pain experience. Using a 10-cm scale, children rated the severity of their pain and the ratings were related to physiologic parameters; body, facial, and vocal indicators of pain; and word descriptions of pain while controlling for the effects of current medications. Both the magnitude of x2 values and the measures of association supported the validity of the pain scale as an indicator of the distress level of the children.