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 .
Expected and reported pain in children undergoing ear piercing: a randomized trial of preparation by parents.
This study examined experimentally the effectiveness of preparatory information provided by parents  in creating accurate expectations and reducing  children 's procedural pain .  Ear piercing was used as an analogue to minor painful medical procedures . Sixty children , aged 5 - 12 years , requesting ear piercing and accompanied by their parents , were r and omly assigned to a parental information or contact-control condition . Parents in the information group were asked to read their child a description of the procedures and sensations of ear piercing . Parents in the contact-control condition played picture games for the same amount of time .  Expected pain was measured on a visual analogue scale ( VAS ) and the Faces Pain Scale-Revised ( FPS-R ) before and after the parental information or contact-control procedure . Experienced pain was measured on the same two scales immediately after the ear piercing . Prepared children had more accurate expectations and reported significantly less pain ( M=27.3 ) than non-prepared children ( M=49.8 ) . The validity of the measures was supported by strong correlations ( r=0.87 to 0.96 ) between the VAS and FPS-R. The findings suggest that parental provision of preparatory information creates accurate expectations and reduces pain for children
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 .