title: [Pain assessment using the Facial Action Coding System. A systematic review].
abstract: Self-reporting is the most widely used pain measurement tool, although it may not be useful in patients with loss or deficit in communication skills. The aim of this paper was to undertake a systematic review of the literature of pain assessment through the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). The initial search found 4,335 references and, within the restriction «FACS», these were reduced to 40 (after exclusion of duplicates). Finally, only 26 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were included. Methodological quality was assessed using the GRADE system. Most patients were adults and elderly health conditions, or cognitive deficits and/or chronic pain. Our conclusion is that FACS is a reliable and objective tool in the detection and quantification of pain in all patients.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Estomatología y Enfermería, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, España. Electronic address: rosa.rojo@urjc.es.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rojo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Estomatología y Enfermería, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Prados-Frutos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Cirugía, Facultad de Odontología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, España.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: López-Valverde
mesh_terms: D003144:Communication Barriers; D003147:Communication Disorders; D005149:Facial Expression; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Dolor; Evaluación del dolor; Expresión dolorosa; Facial Action Coding System; Pain; Pain assessment; Painful expression; Sistema de Codificación de la Acción Facial