Validity and reliability of a Swedish version of the Non-Communicating Children's Pain Checklist--Postoperative Version.
OBJECTIVE
To test the validity and reliability of a Swedish version of the Non-Communicating Children's Pain Checklist-Postoperative Version (NCCPC-PV).


METHODS
Thirty-two consecutive children/adolescents (2-20 years of age) with cognitive impairment and no verbal communication from four habilitation centres were admitted to the study. Each child's behaviour was observed by a parent or a caregiver and by a physiotherapist in two calm and two painful situations within the child's everyday life. The raters independently assessed and graded the child's behaviour during 5 min according to the translated Swedish version of the NCCPC-PV. The intrarater and interrater reliability were determined, and the construct validity was examined.


RESULTS
The results from 202 assessments showed that the construct validity was good: children's behavioural signs differed significantly between situations of pain and situations of calm (p < 0.001). Repeated assessments showed poor agreement both within and between raters [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.51-0.65]. The agreement for pain was good (ICC 0.83).


CONCLUSIONS
The Swedish version of the NCCPC-PV can be used for pain assessment in children with cognitive impairments who lack verbal communication. Aspects of reliability need to be further analysed.
Johansson
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M
Handicap & Habilitation, Stockholm, Sweden. marie.johansson@sll.se
Carlberg
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EB
Jylli
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D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders; D003144:Communication Barriers; D002658:Developmental Disabilities; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010290:Parents; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult