Based on available evidence , the NRS-11 , FPS-R , and CAS were strongly recommended for self-report of acute pain .
Only weak recommendations could be made for self-report measures for postoperative and chronic pain .
No measures were recommended for children younger than 6 years , identifying a need for further measurement refinement in this age range .
Abstract In 2006 , PAIN published a systematic review of the measurement properties of self-report pain intensity measures  in children and adolescents ( Stinson JN , Kavanagh T , Yamada J , Gill N , Stevens B. Systematic review of the psychometric properties , interpretability and feasibility of self-report pain intensity measures for use in clinical trials in children and adolescents .
Key developments in pediatric pain necessitate an up date of this work , most notably growing use of the 11-point numeric rating scale ( NRS-11 ) .
Our aim was to review the measurement properties of single-item self-report pain intensity measures in children 3 to 18 years old .
A secondary aim was to develop evidence -based recommendations for measurement of child and adolescent self-report of acute , postoperative , and chronic pain .
Defining No Pain, Mild, Moderate, and Severe Pain Based on the Faces Pain Scale–Revised and Color Analog Scale in Children With Acute Pain
Objectives The aims of this study were to define the Faces Pain Scale – Revised ( FPS-R ) and Color Analog Scale ( CAS ) scores associated with no pain , mild pain , moderate pain , and severe pain in children with acute pain , and to identify differences based on age , sex , and ethnicity . Methods We conducted a prospect i ve observational study in 2 pediatric emergency departments of children aged 4 to 17 years with painful and nonpainful conditions . We assessed their pain intensity using the FPS-R , CAS , and qualitative measures .  Pain score cut points that best differentiated adjacent categories of pain were identified using a receiver operating characteristic – based method . Cut points were compared within subgroups based on age , sex , and ethnicity . Results We enrolled 620 patients , of whom 314 had painful conditions . The mean age was 9.2 years ; 315 ( 50.8 % ) were in the younger age group ( aged 4–7 years ) ; 291 ( 46.8 % ) were female ; and 341 ( 55 % ) were Hispanic . The scores best representing categories of pain for the FPS-R were as follows : no pain , 0 and 2 ; mild pain , 4 ; moderate pain , 6 ; and severe pain , 8 and 10 . For the CAS , these were 0 to 1 , 1.25 to 2.75 , 3 to 5.75 , and 6 to 10 , respectively . Children with no pain frequently reported nonzero pain scores . There was considerable overlap of scores associated with mild and moderate pain . There were no clinical ly meaningful differences of scores representing each category of pain based on age , ethnicity , and race . Conclusions We defined pain scores for the FPS-R and CAS associated with categories of pain intensity in children with acute pain that are generalizable across subgroups based on patient characteristics . There were minor but potentially important differences in pain scores used to delineate categories of pain intensity compared to prior convention
Based on available evidence , the NRS-11 , FPS-R , and CAS were strongly recommended for self-report of acute pain .
Only weak recommendations could be made for self-report measures for postoperative and chronic pain .
No measures were recommended for children younger than 6 years , identifying a need for further measurement refinement in this age range .
Abstract In 2006 , PAIN published a systematic review of the measurement properties of self-report pain intensity measures  in children and adolescents ( Stinson JN , Kavanagh T , Yamada J , Gill N , Stevens B. Systematic review of the psychometric properties , interpretability and feasibility of self-report pain intensity measures for use in clinical trials in children and adolescents .
Key developments in pediatric pain necessitate an up date of this work , most notably growing use of the 11-point numeric rating scale ( NRS-11 ) .
Our aim was to review the measurement properties of single-item self-report pain intensity measures in children 3 to 18 years old .
A secondary aim was to develop evidence -based recommendations for measurement of child and adolescent self-report of acute , postoperative , and chronic pain .