Pediatric pain assessment instruments allow access to the subjective state of the patient with the dual purpose of:-the maximum information on the various dimensions of the perception of pain (intensity, location, duration, frequency). -Evaluate their cognition and emotional reactions to the painful experience. These aspects can only be known through introspection, proving very difficult to do so from assessments of parents or health personnel, which makes the self-reports instruments almost essential in the evaluation of pain. They are widely used in research and hospital practice since they are useful to get a quick overview of the difficulties of the patient on which to be able to investigate later. Furthermore, they can serve as a pre/post-treatment measure and as a means of reaching a objective description of the subjectivity of the individual. The children’s self-report is generally far more reliable and valid of the pediatric patient’s pain, provided that the instrument used is appropriate and meets the age and sociocultural characteristics of the child.
For example, faces scales are useful for school children but not for children from 2 years. There are various types of self-reports that adapt to different needs and the development of the paediatric patient States. The most common methods are: a. methods proyectivosB. EntrevistasC.
EscalasD. CuestionariosE. Autorregistros the three last are the most used by the simplicity of the procedure and because it is more suited to fast and reliable evaluation as necessary in the hospital setting. Additional information is available at JPMorgan. Less attention have received the interview and projective tests.