Comparison of two pain assessment tools in nonverbal critical care patients

It is recommended that patient's self-report of pain should be obtained as often as possible as the "gold standard." Unfortunately in critical care, many factors can alter verbal communication with patients, making pain assessment more difficult. Scientific advances in understanding pain mechanisms, multidimensional methods of pain assessment, and analgesic pharmacology have improved pain management strategies. However, pain assessment for nonverbal patients in critical care continues to present a challenge for clinicians and researchers. The purpose of this study was to compare the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) and the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) scores for assessment in nonverbal critical care patients. A descriptive, comparative, prospective design was used in this study. A convenience sample of 100 critical care, nonverbal, adult patients of varying medical diagnoses who required pain evaluation were assessed with the PAINAD and CPOT scales. Data were collected over a 6-month period in all critical care areas. Observations of pain assessments for nonverbal patients who required pain evaluation were recorded on the PAINAD and the CPOT successively. Internal consistency reliability for the PAINAD was 0.80 and for the CPOT 0.72. Limits of agreement indicated that there was no difference in PAINAD and CPOT scores for assessing pain in nonverbal patients in critical care. Further research in the area of pain assessment for nonverbal patients in critical care is needed.