RESUMO
Aim: Faces pain scales are widely used to measure pain. So far, no faces pain scale has ever been constructed by Rasch modeling. Hence the authors aimed to construct a new scale by this method. Methods: Rasch modeling was used to provide an initial calibration and development of the 'Balparda-Herrera Pain Scale' (BHPS) and this scale was compared with the existing Faces Pain Scale - Revised. The scale was later refined. Results: Both the existing scale and the initial version of the BHPS required category collapsing. Statistical tests demonstrated an excellent concordance between both scales. The final version of the BHPS was found to behave excellently and to be capable of adequately measuring pain. Conclusion: The BHPS provides an excellent instrument for measuring pain in the adult population.
Lay abstract Pain is an unpleasant experience for patients, and it is useful for physicians to try to measure how much pain the patient is experiencing. Some scales used by physicians include faces with different expressions to represent various amounts of pain. Rasch modeling is a mathematical approach to develop better scales. In this study, the researchers performed two surveys in order to develop and improve a new scale for measuring pain: the BalpardaHerrera Pain Scale. They used mathematical and statistical approaches to optimize the scale and to compare with another well-known scale. The authors found that the new scale is very useful for measuring pain.