Development and validity of the Burns-Child Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale (B-CAMPIS) for young children

Young children are at increased risk of burn injury and of procedural distress during the subsequent wound care. There are currently few observational measures validated for use with young children during medical procedures. The aim of this research was to adapt the Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Revised (CAMPIS-R) to assess parent-young child interactions during burn wound care by including nonverbal behavioral coding.

Eighty-seven families of children (1-6years old) were recruited at their first burn dressing change. Potential behaviors were identified through a literature review, consulting health professionals, and direct observation of parents and children during burn wound care. Nonverbal behaviors were coded live, and verbal behaviors were audio recorded for later assessment.

Inter-coder reliability was good to excellent for the Burns-CAMPIS (B-CAMPIS). The additional behaviors were correlated with the hypothesized coping, distress, coping-promoting and distress-promoting categories of the CAMPIS-R. Some behaviors differed in frequency across child age groups, with older children demonstrating more verbal behaviors. Convergent validity was demonstrated through correlations with previously validated observational parent-child behavior measures, and parent- and nurse- reported measures of child pain and anxiety. Univariate regression analyses demonstrated the child categories of the B-CAMPIS accounted for equal or more of the variance of parent- and nurse- reported child pain and anxiety, compared to the CAMPIS-R.

The B-CAMPIS is a reliable and valid measure, for assessing coping and distress relationships in young children and their families. Pending further validation, the B-CAMPIS assists researchers and clinicians to recognize and target important behaviors to improve young child coping during pediatric burn wound care.