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 .
A randomized double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial of the EMLA® patch for the reduction of pain associated with intramuscular injection in four to six‐year‐old children
The effectiveness of a eutectic mixture lidocaine‐prilocaine topical anaesthetic cream ( EMLA ® ) patch compared with a placebo patch in the reduction of pain associated with intramuscular immunization was evaluated . As part of the study , 161 children ( aged 4‐6‐y ) undergoing routine diphtheria , pertussis , tetanus and polio ( DPTP ) immunization in five urban and five rural private office setting s were r and omly assigned to an EMLA ® patch ( n= 83 ) or a placebo patch control group ( n= 78 ) . Pain measurements included : child 's self‐report on a Faces Pain Scale ; facial action on the Child Facial Coding System ; the Children 's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale and parent and technician ratings on a Visual Analogue Scale . Parents also rated their own and their child 's immunization‐related anxiety on a Visual Analogue Scale . The EMLA ® patch group had significantly less pain on all four pain measures compared with the placebo group . Of the children in the placebo group , 43 % had clinical ly significant pain , compared with 17 % of children in the EMLA ® patch group . No severe adverse symptoms occurred as a result of either EMLA ® or placebo patch application
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 .