The validity of the Computer Face Scale for measuring pediatric pain and mood.
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.
Department of Anesthesiology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA. Joseph.P.Cravero@hitchcock.org
Joseph P
JP
Cravero
Gilbert J
GJ
Fanciullo
Gregory J
GJ
McHugo
John C
JC
Baird
D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003196:Computer Graphics; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014068:Tonsillectomy