A Systematic Integrative Review of Infant Pain Assessment Tools

When choosing a pain assessment tool, one must also consider the infant population and setting, and the type of pain experienced. The decision should be made after carefully considering the existing published options. Confidence that the instrument will assess pain in a reproducible way is essential, and must be demonstrated with validity and reliability testing. Using an untested instrument is not recommended, and should only occur within a research protocol, with appropriate ethics and parental approval. Because pain is a multidimensional phenomenon, well-tested multidimensional instruments may be preferable.