title: Development and validation of the Youth Acute Pain Functional Ability Questionnaire (YAPFAQ).
abstract: Physical function and functional recovery are important aspects of the acute pain experience in children and adolescents in hospitalized settings. Measures of function related to pediatric acute pain do not exist currently, limiting understanding of recovery in youth undergoing acute and procedural pain. To address this gap, we developed and assessed the clinical utility and preliminary validity of the Youth Acute Pain Functional Ability Questionnaire (YAPFAQ). We evaluated psychometric properties of this measure in 159 patients with sickle cell disease, ages 7 to 21 years, who were hospitalized for vaso-occlusive episodes at 4 urban children's hospitals. The YAPFAQ demonstrated strong internal reliability and test-retest reliability. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the preliminary factor structure and to help reduce the number of items for the final scale. Evidence for moderate construct validity was demonstrated among validated measures of pain burden, motor function, functional ability, and quality of life. The YAPFAQ is a new measure of youth functional ability in the acute pain setting. Further evaluation of this measure in additional pediatric populations is needed to understand applicability across a spectrum of youth experiencing acute pain related to illness, trauma, and medical/surgical procedures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Measures of function in response to acute pain are needed in order to more comprehensively evaluate acute pain interventions in pediatrics; however, no specific measures are available. Our preliminary psychometric evaluation of an acute pain functional ability measure for youth indicates that it may be a promising tool for further refinement in additional pediatric acute pain populations.
authors.affiliation: Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, Connecticut; Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut. Electronic address: wzempsk@connecticutchildrens.org.
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Zempsky
authors.affiliation: Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.affiliation: Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, Connecticut.
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Santanelli
authors.affiliation: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: New
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith-Whitley
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casella
authors.affiliation: University of Washington and Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Tonya M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Palermo
mesh_terms: D059787:Acute Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Sickle cell disease; adolescents; functional assessment; pain