Short Communication
Rowsan Ara
Abstract
Background: Pain is one of the most common and feared symptoms of children with cancer and their family caregivers or parents. The Faces Pain Scale- Revised (FPS-R) is a self- report measure of pain intensity scale to assess pain in children. Objectives: To assess the validity and reliability of FPS-R for Bangladeshi children. Methodology: A methodological study design was conducted among 84 child with cancer and 84 family caregivers recruited conveniently from Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Bangladesh. A self-report tool, FPS-R was used by children to measure their pain and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) was used by the parents to measure their child’s pain. Face to face interview was conducted to collect data through semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson‘s correlation coefficient, were used for data analysis. Results: The mean age of children was 5.73 years with SD ± 1.60. Majority 64.3% of the child’s current diagnosis was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. FPS-R scores correlated with parent scores using NRS (r= 0.77, p<0.001) suggested good validity. Test-retest reliability of FPS-R was supported by strong correlations (r=.93, p=<0.001) suggested excellent reliability. Conclusion: We can conclude, FPS-R as a valid and reliable tool for the child with cancer to assess pain. Dissemination and broader application of the FPS-R tool in Bangladesh could improve pediatric pain evaluation and in relieving their pain suffering.