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Interrater reliability of the COMFORT Scale

Lora A Bear1, Peggy Ward-Smith

  • 1Intensive Care Unit, Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics, Kansas City, MO, USA.

Pediatric Nursing
|November 15, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Assessing pain in critically ill children is difficult. The COMFORT Scale demonstrates reliable pain assessment among pediatric nurses, ensuring consistent care for non-verbal pediatric patients.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
  • Nursing Research
  • Pain Management

Background:

  • Critically ill children often cannot articulate pain due to their condition or sedation.
  • Accurate pain assessment is crucial for effective treatment in pediatric intensive care units.
  • The COMFORT Scale offers a method for assessing psychological distress in these vulnerable patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the interrater reliability of the COMFORT Scale in critically ill pediatric patients.
  • To determine if nurses with varied backgrounds can consistently apply the COMFORT Scale.

Main Methods:

  • A non-experimental comparison study design was employed.
  • The COMFORT Scale was used by a primary investigator and 29 staff nurses to simultaneously assess 55 pediatric patients.
  • Patients were intubated, had stable vital signs, and normal musculoskeletal function.

Main Results:

  • Statistical analysis (t-tests) revealed no significant difference between the primary investigator's scores and those of the staff nurses.
  • The study supports the COMFORT Scale's reliability across nurses with diverse experience and education levels.
  • Consistent application of the COMFORT Scale was observed.

Conclusions:

  • The COMFORT Scale is a reliable tool for pain and distress assessment in critically ill, sedated children.
  • Pediatric nurses, regardless of background, can effectively utilize the COMFORT Scale for consistent patient assessment.
  • Findings support the use of the COMFORT Scale in clinical practice for improved pediatric pain management.

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