title: Validating the Derbyshire Children's Hospital Pain Tool in children aged 6-12 years.
abstract: The Derbyshire Children's Hospital Paediatric Pain Chart (DPC) is the current pain assessment tool used at the Derbyshire Children's Hospital. It was originally devised as a simple pain tool for use in the post-operative clinical area. It is applicable across the spectrum of age groups that present for paediatric surgery. The DPC assesses pain by utilizing three parameters: facial expression, verbal (i.e. self-report) and body movement. This exploratory study was undertaken to determine its reliability and validity in children aged 6-12 years. The research nurse assessed 60 children aged 6-12 years undergoing minor and intermediate surgery and compared the DPC against the validated Oucher Scale. Assessments were performed preoperatively and for four hours post-operatively. Any analgesia administered post-operatively was recorded, and its effects noted. This study supports construct validity and inter-rater reliability of the DPC pain assessment tool for children aged 6-12 undergoing minor and intermediate surgery.
authors.affiliation: Academic Division of Child Health, University of Nottingham, Derbyshire Children's Hospital, Derby DE22 3NE, UK. vanessa.peden@nottingham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Peden
authors.forename: Imti
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Choonara
authors.forename: Mair
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vater
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005149:Facial Expression; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D006113:United Kingdom