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Objective: The aim was to assess the validity of the Computer Face Scale., Methods: Forty children (5-13 years old) rated pain and mood prior to and twice following tonsillectomy. The children used the Computer Face Scale to adjust a cartoon face to rate pain and mood. During sessions one and two, the children also chose an expression on the Wong-Baker Faces Scale to rate their pain, and they reported their mood verbally on a seven-point scale., Results: On average, the children reported no pain and a positive mood prior to surgery. Soon after surgery, they reported mild pain and a slightly negative mood. An hour later, they reported decreases in pain and return to a positive mood. The differences between presurgery and postsurgery ratings were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001) for all measures. The correlation between the two mood measures was 0.88 before surgery and 0.78 afterward. The correlation between the two measures of pain was 0.83 after surgery (P's < 0.001)., Conclusions: The results support the validity of the Computer Face Scale. The mean ratings of pain and mood followed the expected pattern from pre- to postsurgery, and there was a significant association between ratings obtained by different methods. The Computer Face Scale provides a simple-to-use scale with more resolution and electronic capture, which may provide advantages in numerous clinical and research applications., (© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Objective: The objective of this preliminary investigation was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of a new pain assessment method referred to as 3-D pain mapping., Methods: In Study 1, 101 chronic noncancer pain patients from four sites reported their pain using the method on two occasions (separated by approximately 10 days). The patients marked intensity, surface location, and depth of pain on a 3-D computer display of a male or female body. The model body could be rotated in order to mark multiple pain locations. In Study 2, 25 patients from a single site were tested with a revised version of the mapping program used in Study 1. Each patient gave ratings on two occasions separated by approximately 1 week., Results: In Study 1, the intra-class correlations of the 3-D pain mapping measures were moderate to high for maximum pain intensity (0.73), vertical location of the point of maximum pain (0.94), and the number of pain marks (0.84). Correlations were low for the horizontal location of the point of maximum pain (0.56) and for the depth of pain (0.50). In Study 2, using the revised program, intra-class correlations were moderate for pain intensity (0.76), and high for the vertical (0.99) and horizontal (0.98) locations of the point of maximum pain, number of pain marks (0.89), and the depth of pain (0.84)., Conclusion: Three-dimensional pain mapping enables patients to report the location and intensity of their pain on all parts of the body, and such ratings are highly reliable. Future studies are needed to determine whether the clinical value of this method can improve the accuracy of pain diagnoses and the quality of pain management., (Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Unlabelled: This investigation determined the psychometric properties and acceptability of an animated face scale presented on a hand-held computer as a means to measure pediatric pain and mood. In study 1, 79 hospitalized, pediatric patients indicated their levels of pain by adjusting the expression of an animated cartoon face. The first objective was to determine feasibility, concurrent validity, and acceptability of the method. All patients were tested both with the Computer Face Scale and the poster format of the Wong-Baker Faces Scale. A second objective was to evaluate test-retest reliability of the method. In study 2, 50 hospitalized, pediatric patients were tested on 2 occasions, but in this case the patients used the Computer Face Scale to indicate both their pain (how much they hurt) and their mood (how they felt). Children in study 1 were able to use the Computer Face Scale to express relative amounts of pain/hurt; the method showed concurrent validity with the Wong-Baker Face Scale; and most children expressed a preference for the Computer Face Scale. The method also showed adequate test-retest reliability. In study 2, adequate test-retest reliability was demonstrated for ratings of both pain and mood., Perspective: The Computer Face Scale allows the health provider to obtain reliable and valid measures of pediatric pain and mood. The method can be understood and used by children as young as 3 years and is appropriate for use with adults.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine initial psychometric properties and feasibility of a new Computer Face Scale for measuring pediatric pain. Drawbacks to current measurement tools include a lack of continuous variables, suboptimal mode of implementation, and difficulty interpreting results. A computer method of pediatric pain measurement is presented that addresses these problems. Basic psychometric properties, feasibility, and children's preference when compared with Wong-Baker Faces Scale were determined., Methods: Fifty-four hospitalized, pediatric inpatients were tested using both the Computer Face Scale and the Wong-Baker Faces Scale. An additional 30 children (not hospitalized) were tested using only the Computer Face Scale., Results: Both hospitalized and nonhospitalized children between the ages of 3 and 17 years of age are able to use the Computer Face Scale to express relative amounts of pain/hurt and happiness. The Computer Face Scale shows acceptable psychometric properties and is preferred by most children., Conclusions: The Computer Face Scale offers advantages over traditional pediatric pain measurement tools. The opportunity for real time review, electronic and time-stamped recording, electronic display, and temporal comparisons of reports affords the potential for improvement in pediatric pain assessment and treatment.

Objective: In order to establish a diagnosis of chronic pain, emphasis is placed on a patient's report of the pain's intensity, location, and character. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a computer assessment method to collect self-reports of pain that were then used in discriminant analyses to distinguish among chronic pain diagnoses., Methods: A convenience sample of 511 patients from two university-based pain clinics completed a computer pain assessment battery that elicited demographic information, pain drawings, pain and emotion intensity ratings, and intensity ratings of verbal descriptors. Patients classified themselves into one of six chronic pain diagnoses. Discriminant analyses were performed in an attempt to identify the unique features of patients' pain experience associated with each of the diagnostic categories., Results: Pain drawings successfully classified patients into three of the diagnostic categories (back, head, and neck pain). In a second analysis, two pain descriptors (cramping and stabbing) separated rheumatoid arthritis patients from those with either fibromyalgia or neural pain. One descriptor of pain (cramping) and one descriptor of emotion (frustration) together distinguished between fibromyalgia and neural pain., Conclusions: 1) Computer assessment of a range of patient symptoms is feasible in the pain clinic. 2) Discriminant analysis based on pain drawings can distinguish among patient-reported diagnoses of back pain, headache, and neck pain. 3) Discriminant analysis based on three verbal descriptors can help to distinguish among diagnoses of fibromyalgia, neuralgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. 4) However, in general, most computerized descriptive information is not useful in distinguishing differences among pain patient diagnostic groups.

Objective: To investigate whether grouping of patients with back pain into similar behavioral patient profiles using SF-36 scores is predictive of outcome following 1-year treatment in a multidisciplinary spine center beginning with referral for epidural steroid injection., Design: A prospective observational study was conducted on 81 consecutive patients selected for epidural steroid injections by independent physicians following common institutional criteria. Each patient completed a baseline SF-36 questionnaire as well as a numerical response pain scale. The initial SF-36 data were used to place each patient into one of three subgroups (Highly Functional, Emotional Adapters, and Dysfunctional). Follow-up SF-36 and numerical response pain scale questionnaires were completed by the patients at 1 month and 12 months following the initial epidural steroid injection., Results: Results revealed significant improvement among all three patient subgroups following multidisciplinary treatment at both 1 month and 12 months. Few differences in outcome occurred among the subgroups., Conclusion: The SF-36-determined subgroups did not predict response to a multidisciplinary pain clinic. All three subgroups showed similar improvement following treatment.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of pain specialists, nonprofessionals, and a decision model in judging whether a pain diagram was marked by a patient with chronic pain or by a healthy volunteer. Two hundred twenty-eight pain drawings were shown in random order to 10 pain medicine physicians, 10 pain medicine fellows, 10 nonphysician specialists, and 10 nonprofessionals. One half of the drawings (n = 114) had been produced by patients treated at a pain center and the other half (n = 114) by healthy individuals who were instructed to mark the diagrams as if they had a pain problem. The nonprofessionals were found to be 51.5% accurate, pain medicine fellows 52.7%, nonphysician specialists 54.3%, and pain medicine physicians 55.2 % accurate at distinguishing drawings by actual pain patients from drawings from volunteers without pain. A decision model was able to achieve 68.9% accuracy in determining which drawings were made by pain patients and which drawings were made by healthy individuals. The results suggest that subjective assessment of pain drawings alone is not useful in determining whether someone has real or imagined pain. A decision model that makes decisions on the basis of the number of highlighted squares on the pain diagram can identify real pain drawings with greater accuracy than humans., Perspective: Pain drawings are clinically useful but have limitations. This study illustrates some of the benefits of computerized pain assessment and highlights the importance of not judging patients on the basis of one source of information.

Objective: Computerized software holds the potential for the novel assessment of the pain experience of patients with chronic pain not available through traditional paper-and-pencil methods. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility and discriminant validity of a dynamic computer-administered program for the assessment of pain., Design: Three computer-administered programs were created to assess the intensity (dynamic visual analog scale DVAS]), character (dynamic verbal ratings), and location (dynamic pain drawings) of pain. The programs were administered to 115 chronic pain patients recruited from a hospital-based pain management program and 115 age- and gender-matched healthy individuals without pain. The healthy controls were instructed to respond as if they had chronic pain., Results: Analyses showed pain patient DVAS pain intensity ratings to be significantly higher than ratings by the healthy group. Patients selected more words in describing their pain, rated those words higher, and marked significantly more pain locations than the comparison group. However, no differences were found in the DVAS ratings of emotional impact between patients and healthy individuals., Conclusions: Chronic pain patients were shown to differ from healthy individuals in their assessments of degree of pain intensity and pain location with the use of a novel computerized pain assessment program. Although further investigations are needed, these initial findings support the use of computer methods for the effective assessment of pain.

Objective. To evaluate the concurrent validity of the short form of an interactive computerized quality of life (ICQOL-SF) measure for patients with chronic pain. Methods. The ICQOL-SF, consisting of one global and four separate domains of quality of life, was administered to 300 chronic pain patients in two pain centers. Participants also completed the full 21-item interactive computerized quality of life (ICQOL) program, a computerized version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), and a computerized assessment of pain (CAP) program. In a second study, an independent group of 336 chronic pain patients completed the ICQOL-SF, the WHOQOL-BREF, and the CAP. Results. The ICQOL-SF in both studies demonstrated adequate concurrent validity with the WHOQOL-BREF ( r = 0.75) and the CAP ( r = 0.84). The five-item ICQOL-SF was also highly correlated with the full ICQOL ( r = 0.90). Surprisingly, older individuals with more formal education and longer pain duration reported better quality of life. Number of past surgeries was negatively correlated with quality of life. Conclusions. The five-item short-form interactive computerized method to assess quality of life demonstrates adequate concurrent validity and would be a useful, brief software measure in the assessment of persons with chronic pain. Additional studies are needed to determine the reliability and sensitivity to change of the ICQOL-SF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]