Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Validity and reliability of the Behavioural Observational Pain Scale for postoperative pain measurement in children 1-7 years of age

Hesselgard, Karin LU ; Larsson, Sylvia LU ; Romner, Bertil LU ; Strömblad, Lars-Göran LU and Reinstrup, Peter LU (2007) In Pediatric Critical Care Medicine 8(2). p.102-108
Abstract
Objective: Pain measurement is a necessity in pain treatment but can be difficult in young children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Behavioural Observational Pain Scale (BOPS) as a postoperative pain measurement scale for children aged 1-7 yrs. The scale assesses three elements of pain behaviors: facial expression, verbalization, and body position. Design: A prospective study. Setting. A day surgery care unit for children and a neurosurgical postoperative care unit. Patients: Seventy-six children aged 1-7 yrs (4.5 +/- 1.8) undergoing elective surgical procedures were observed. Interventions. None. Measurements and Main Results. The study was divided into interrater reliability, concurrent... (More)
Objective: Pain measurement is a necessity in pain treatment but can be difficult in young children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Behavioural Observational Pain Scale (BOPS) as a postoperative pain measurement scale for children aged 1-7 yrs. The scale assesses three elements of pain behaviors: facial expression, verbalization, and body position. Design: A prospective study. Setting. A day surgery care unit for children and a neurosurgical postoperative care unit. Patients: Seventy-six children aged 1-7 yrs (4.5 +/- 1.8) undergoing elective surgical procedures were observed. Interventions. None. Measurements and Main Results. The study was divided into interrater reliability, concurrent validity, and construct validity. The interrater reliabilities of the observers were very good with a high agreement between the different nurses' BOPS scores. Each item of the BOPS scale ranged from kappa(w) 0.86 to 0.95. In the concurrent validity, BOPS and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale scores had a positive correlation indicating that both tools described similar behaviors (r(s) =.871, p <.001). In construct validity, the effect of analgesic Was tested before analgesic administration and at 15, 30, and 60 mins after analgesic administration. The differences in BOPS score between the time intervals were significant (p <.01) before administration of analgesia and at 15, 30, and 60 mins. There was also statistical significance in the BOPS score (p <.01) between 15 and 60 mins after administration of analgesia. Conclusions. With BOPS, the caretaker can evaluate and document pain with high reliability and validity and thereby improve postoperative pain treatment in preschool children. The simple scoring system makes BOPS easy to incorporate in a postoperative unit. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Observational Pain Scale, Behavioural, postoperative pain, children, pain measurement, reliability, validity
in
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
volume
8
issue
2
pages
102 - 108
publisher
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
external identifiers
  • wos:000244768300003
  • scopus:34147190780
  • pmid:17273124
ISSN
1529-7535
DOI
10.1097/01.PCC.0000257098.32268.AA
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Division of Nursing (Closed 2012) (013065000), Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (013230022), Neurosurgery (013026000)
id
2a0b3f1f-48d2-4abb-bfaa-6a484febf96f (old id 673585)
alternative location
http://www.pccmjournal.com/pt/re/pccm/abstract.00130478-200703000-00003.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17273124&dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:54:56
date last changed
2022-04-22 18:21:35
@article{2a0b3f1f-48d2-4abb-bfaa-6a484febf96f,
  abstract     = {{Objective: Pain measurement is a necessity in pain treatment but can be difficult in young children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Behavioural Observational Pain Scale (BOPS) as a postoperative pain measurement scale for children aged 1-7 yrs. The scale assesses three elements of pain behaviors: facial expression, verbalization, and body position. Design: A prospective study. Setting. A day surgery care unit for children and a neurosurgical postoperative care unit. Patients: Seventy-six children aged 1-7 yrs (4.5 +/- 1.8) undergoing elective surgical procedures were observed. Interventions. None. Measurements and Main Results. The study was divided into interrater reliability, concurrent validity, and construct validity. The interrater reliabilities of the observers were very good with a high agreement between the different nurses' BOPS scores. Each item of the BOPS scale ranged from kappa(w) 0.86 to 0.95. In the concurrent validity, BOPS and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale scores had a positive correlation indicating that both tools described similar behaviors (r(s) =.871, p &lt;.001). In construct validity, the effect of analgesic Was tested before analgesic administration and at 15, 30, and 60 mins after analgesic administration. The differences in BOPS score between the time intervals were significant (p &lt;.01) before administration of analgesia and at 15, 30, and 60 mins. There was also statistical significance in the BOPS score (p &lt;.01) between 15 and 60 mins after administration of analgesia. Conclusions. With BOPS, the caretaker can evaluate and document pain with high reliability and validity and thereby improve postoperative pain treatment in preschool children. The simple scoring system makes BOPS easy to incorporate in a postoperative unit.}},
  author       = {{Hesselgard, Karin and Larsson, Sylvia and Romner, Bertil and Strömblad, Lars-Göran and Reinstrup, Peter}},
  issn         = {{1529-7535}},
  keywords     = {{Observational Pain Scale; Behavioural; postoperative pain; children; pain measurement; reliability; validity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{102--108}},
  publisher    = {{Lippincott Williams & Wilkins}},
  series       = {{Pediatric Critical Care Medicine}},
  title        = {{Validity and reliability of the Behavioural Observational Pain Scale for postoperative pain measurement in children 1-7 years of age}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.PCC.0000257098.32268.AA}},
  doi          = {{10.1097/01.PCC.0000257098.32268.AA}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}