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 .
Differences among raters evaluating the success of EMLA cream in alleviating procedure-related pain in children with cancer.
We evaluated the analgesic efficacy of EMLA cream after repeated bone marrow aspirations or lumbar punctures ( LPs ) in children with cancer , and compared the ratings among patients , their parents , physicians , and nurses . Data from LPs were analyzed at the last procedure without EMLA ( T1 ) and the first and last procedures with EMLA ( T2 and T3 ) . Friedman 's nonparametric analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis . A total of 272 procedures in 29 children were analyzed . For 179 procedures without EMLA , physicians rated pain lower than other raters , and for the 93 with EMLA physicians rated pain less than the children . Children rated pain at T2 lower than at T1 or T3 . Physicians rated pain at T2 less than at T3 . Both children and physicians rated pain at T3 as not different from that at T1 . No differences were noted at these time points for other raters in LP distress ratings , or in bone marrow aspiration pain or distress ratings . Thus EMLA was associated with decreased pain ratings for LPs , but this effect was not sustainable with repeated procedures . The cream alone should not be relied on to control pain of bone marrow aspiration or repeated LPs in children . Physicians underestimated pain , which may have implication s for undertreatment in this patient population
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 .