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Evaluation of Effectiveness of Graphics Interchange Format and Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale as Pain Assessment
Henpu Kamki1, Ritesh R Kalaskar2, Shruti Balasubramanian3
1Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Government Dental College & Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, Phone: +91 9436844585, e-mail: h.kamki@gmail.com, Orcid: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8150-4002.
Insights
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) pain scale is a promising tool for assessing children's pain. It demonstrates high validity and reliability, proving easier for children to understand than the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Pain Management
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Accurate pain assessment in children is crucial for effective treatment.
- Existing self-report pain scales may have limitations in terms of validity and ease of understanding.
- The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) pain scale is a novel tool developed for pediatric pain assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the validity and reliability of the GIF pain scale as a self-reporting tool for children.
- To compare the GIF pain scale with the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (WBFPRS).
- To assess children's preference and ease of understanding between the two pain scales.
Main Methods:
- An observational study involving 42 children (aged 7-13) with dental pain.
- Administration of both the GIF pain scale and the WBFPRS by a single practitioner.
- A subsequent questionnaire to gather children's feedback on the usability of each scale.
Main Results:
- The GIF pain scale demonstrated a very strong relationship (r=0.936) and almost perfect agreement (k=0.911) with actual pain intensity.
- The WBFPRS showed a strong relationship (r=0.725) and substantial agreement (k=0.710).
- Children found the GIF pain scale significantly easier to understand than the WBFPRS.
Conclusions:
- The GIF pain scale is a highly valid and reliable tool for self-reported pain assessment in children.
- The GIF pain scale appears to be a more user-friendly alternative to the WBFPRS for pediatric populations.
- Further research is recommended to refine and expand the application of the GIF pain scale.
Aim:
The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the graphics interchange format (GIF) as a self-reporting pain assessment tool in children.
Materials And Methods:
In this in vivo observational study, pain assessment of 42 children aged 7-13 years with a chief complaint of dental pain reporting the first time to the Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Government Dental College & Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, were included. Informed consent was obtained from the parents or guardians. All the responses were obtained by a single practitioner, after showing the respective self-reporting pain scale, that is, Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (WBFPRS) and GIF pain scale. A questionnaire study was performed at the end of the study. The data were recorded, and then statistical analyses were performed.
Results:
Both scales showed significant differences (p = 0.001*) when scales were individually compared to the actual pain intensity experienced by the patient. Both WBFPRS and GIF pain scales have shown non-significant differences (p = 0.155). The GIF pain scale has shown very strong relationship (r = 0.936, p = 0.001*), while WBFPRS showed strong relationship (r = 0.725, p = 0.001*). The GIF pain scale has shown almost perfect agreement (k = 0.911) whereas WBFPRS has shown substantial agreement (k = 0.710) with actual pain intensity. In the questionnaire study, most children strongly agreed that the GIF pain scale is easier to understand than WBFPRS.
Conclusion:
The GIF pain scale is a very promising self-report pain assessment tool for children. Further research on improving the GIF pain scale is very important.
Clinical Significance:
The newly devised GIF pain scale seems to be a very promising self-report pain scale for effective determination of pain experienced by the patient.
