Evaluation of Preference of Pain Scale in Children using Novel Animated Emoji Scale in Nepal: An Observational Study

TL;DR

This study compares how children in Nepal prefer different pain scales, finding that younger kids prefer an animated emoji scale while older kids prefer a visual analog scale.

Contribution

The study introduces and evaluates a novel Animated Emoji Scale for pain assessment in pediatric patients in Nepal.

Findings

AES was most preferred by children aged 3-10 years.

Children aged 11-14 years preferred the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

There was a statistically significant association between age group and preferred pain scale (p<0.001).

Abstract

Pain is a common concern for pediatrics patients, maybe challenging because the child cannot properly explain the extent of pain they are experiencing. Several pain assessment tools have been developed and introduced in dentistry that facilitate self-report of pain in children. Three such pain rating scales Animated Emoji Scale, Visual Analogue Scale and Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale were used in this study to evaluate the pain perception among pediatric patients. This study was aimed to evaluate the preference of pain scale among these three scales in pediatrics patients.

This hospital based cross sectional study was carried out from January till June in 182 children aged between 3-14 years divided into three groups on the basis of age: Group A (3-6 years, Group B 7-10 years, and Group C 11-14 years). Ethical clearance was taken (Reference number: UCMS/IRC/02/25). Pain score was recorded among these children using Animated Emoji Scale (AES), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale (WBFPS). The data were entered into Excel and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., USA).

Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient evaluated a positive correlation among the three pain rating scales. Chi-square test showed statistically significant association between age group and preferred pain scale (p<0.001).

AES was most preferred in younger age groups from age 3-10 years whereas elder children 11-14 years relied more on VAS as a self-reporting tool.