Reliability and Refinement of a Pain Location Tool For Children’S Abdominal Surgery

Abstract

Aim: To determine the ‘inter-rater’ and test–retest reliability of a pain location tool for children. Materials & methods: In children aged 5–14 years who had undergone a laparoscopic operation, pain scores at each of seven abdominal locations, and at the shoulder tip, were recorded at baseline and after a 5- and 30-min interval. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients were predominantly in the ‘moderate’ to ‘substantial’ range for both ‘inter-rater’ and test–retest reliability. Three quarters of children would prefer an electronic version of the tool. Thematic analysis showed accuracy, usability, utility and usefulness were areas for future development. Conclusion: Children can reliably indicate where they hurt after laparoscopic surgery. An electronic version could increase acceptability to children and usability by professionals.

KEYWORDS:

• child
• drawings
• pain
• pain measurement
• reliability

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2217/pmt-2016-0021

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the staff nurses on Wards 24b and 24a, Starship Children’s Hospital; Nikki Anderson, Surgical Nurse Educator; and Jane Cameron, Charge Nurse.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.