An Observation Scale for Measuring Children's Distress During Medical Procedures

This study is on the development and validity of the Observation Scale of Behavioral Distress (OSBD), a scale developed to measure childrens' behavioral responses to painful medical procedures. Subjects were 55 pediatric cancer patients, ages 3 to 13, who were observed during bone marrow aspirations (BMAs). To investigate validity, OSBD scores were correlated with nurse ratings, childrens' self-report ratings of pain and anxiety, and physiological measures taken before, during, and after the BMA. Analyses were also conducted to investigate whether the use of interval recording and severity weights for distress behaviors increased the validity of the OSBD. Results indicate that the OSBD is a valid scale and that the additional interval recording and severity weights increased the validity coefficiencies on certain variables such as nurse rating and blood pressure scores.