Pain assessment is an integral component of
pain management. However, pain assessment
remains sub-optimal in many African
countries. Lack of knowledge is one of the
major reasons for this setback in paediatric
pain management. Numerous pain assessment
tools have been studied and validated by
researchers all over the world. This article
presents a summary of the various pain
assessment tools in the existing literature. This
review aims at critically analyzing and
summarizing the findings of existing studies on
paediatric pain assessment tools. A systematic
literature review was conducted in PubMed,
Science Direct and Google Scholar.
Preliminary search terms were imputed into
the various databases, they are: ‘pain
assessment’, ‘paediatric’, ‘assessment tools’
and ‘pain assessment checklist’. Three main
themes emerge from the literature that were
reviewed, they are: self-report, observer
reported and physiological measures. Tools
appropriate for different ages were also
presented. To enhance the utilization of pain
assessment tools, there is a need for strict
policies to necessitate pain assessment. Also,
researchers should develop and test electronic
versions of these assessment tools.
- Ibitoye | Bukola | Mary | ibitoye.bm@unilorin.edu.ng | +2348107671482
- Pain assessment tools, Paediatric, Pain
- PAIN ASSESSMENT TOOLS IN PAEDIATRICS A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW
