Psychometric Evaluation of the Electronic Pain Assessment Tool: An Innovative Instrument for Individuals with Moderate-to-Severe Dementia

• Published in: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders Vol. 44; no. 5-6; p. 256
• Main Authors: Atee, Mustafa, Hoti, Kreshnik, Hughes, Jeffery D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cognition; Dementia - complications; Dementia - psychology; Female; Homes for the Aged; Humans; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Observer Variation; Pain Measurement - methods; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Validity; Pain; Observational pain scales; Electronic Pain Assessment Tool; Facial action units; Automated facial analysis; Reliability; Application; Automated facial recognition; Psychometric properties; Dementia
• DOI: 10.1159/000485377

Pain is common in aged care residents with dementia; yet it often goes undetected. A novel tool, the electronic Pain Assessment Tool (ePAT), was developed to address this challenging problem. We investigated the psychometric properties of the ePAT. In a 10-week prospective observational study, the ePAT was evaluated by comparison against the Abbey Pain Scale (APS). Pain assessments were blindly co-performed by the ePAT rater against the nursing staff of two residential aged care facilities. The residents were assessed twice by each rater: at rest and following movement. The study involved 34 residents aged 85.5 ± 6.3 years, predominantly with severe dementia (Psychogeriatric Assessment Scale - Cognitive Impairment score = 19.7 ± 2.5). Four hundred paired assessments (n = 204 during rest; n = 196 following movement) were performed. Concurrent validity (r = 0.911) and all reliability measures (κw = 0.857; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.904; α = 0.950) were excellent, while discriminant validity and predictive validity were good. The ePAT is a suitable tool for the assessment of pain in this vulnerable population.