[Reliability and validity of the german language version of the "NCCPC-R"]

The "Non-Communicating Children's Pain Checklist Revised" (NCCPC-R) is designed for pain assessment with cognitively impaired children and adolescents, who cannot express pain consciously and adequately, either verbally or non-verbally. The aim of this methodological pilot study is to collect information about the psychometric properties of the German language NCCPC-R version. Professional caregivers of 24 children and adolescents, hospitalised in a rehabilitation centre in the German speaking part of Switzerland, collected 187 measurements in episodes without pain and 62 measurements in episodes with pain. The scores of the NCCPC-R were internally consistent and consistent over time. The scores were substantially correlated with the pain intensity ratings provided by the caregivers and varied distinctively between measurements of episodes with and without pain. At a cut-off-point score of 5 the sensitivity of the NCCPC-R is 84% and specificity is 78%. Considering the small sample, it can be assumed that the German language NCCPC-R version's performance in the examined aspects of reliability and forms of validity is adequate to be suitable for pain assessment by cognitively impaired children and adolescents. Further studies to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument are recommended.