All 4 faces pain scales were found to be adequately supported by psychometric data .
When given a choice between faces scales , children preferred the WBFPRS .
Confounding of pain intensity with affect caused by use of smiling and crying anchor faces is a disadvantage of the WBFPRS .
: For clinical use , we found no grounds to switch from 1 faces scale to another when 1 of the scales is in use .
CONTEXT : Numerous faces scales have been developed for the measurement of  pain intensity in children .
It remains unclear whether any one of the faces scales is better for a particular purpose with regard to validity , reliability , feasibility , and preference .
OBJECTIVES : To summarize and systematic ally review faces pain scales most commonly used to obtain self-report of pain intensity in children for evaluation of reliability and validity and to compare the scales for preference and utility .
Pain Treatment Thresholds in Children After Major Surgery
Objective The objectives of this study were to use a self-report pain scale to examine child pain treatment thresholds after major surgery  ( i.e. , the level of pain they are comfortable with before requiring analgesia ) , as well as to examine agreement between mother- , nurse- , and child-rated pain treatment thresholds . Methods Twenty-five children aged 6 to 16 years were interviewed for 3 consecutive days after major surgery .  Subjects used the  Faces Pain Scale  to rate their current pain , worst postoperative pain , and pain level at which  they would like to receive analgesia ( the pain treatment threshold ) . Parents and nurses also estimated the  child pain treatment thresholds . Results For day 1 , mean pain was 1.86 of a maximum of 6 , mean worst pain was 4.16 , and mean pain treatment threshold was 2.28 . For day 2 , these values were 1.90 , 4.10 , and 2.54 , and for day 3 they were 1.62 , 4.56 , and 1.85 , respectively . Mean scores for all 3 days were as follows : pain , 1.79 ; worst pain , 4.15 ; and pain treatment threshold , 2.33 . Although mother – nurse ratings were correlated ( 0.471 ) , mother – child and nurse – child ratings were not significantly correlated . Using the pain treatment threshold as the criterion , 36 % of our subjects were undermedicated after the first day of surgery . Conclusion Pain treatment thresholds seem to be lower in children after major as compared with minor surgery . Parents and nurses are not accurate in rating child pain treatment thresholds . Parents tended to overestimate their child 's pain treatment threshold , whereas nurses were less consistent in their scoring
All 4 faces pain scales were found to be adequately supported by psychometric data .
When given a choice between faces scales , children preferred the WBFPRS .
Confounding of pain intensity with affect caused by use of smiling and crying anchor faces is a disadvantage of the WBFPRS .
: For clinical use , we found no grounds to switch from 1 faces scale to another when 1 of the scales is in use .
CONTEXT : Numerous faces scales have been developed for the measurement of  pain intensity in children .
It remains unclear whether any one of the faces scales is better for a particular purpose with regard to validity , reliability , feasibility , and preference .
OBJECTIVES : To summarize and systematic ally review faces pain scales most commonly used to obtain self-report of pain intensity in children for evaluation of reliability and validity and to compare the scales for preference and utility .