Comparing Two Scales: FPS-R and NRS for Pain Measurement in Elderly Bedridden Population of Hamadan-Iran

Abstract

Background: Pain is a common complaint of the elderly and it is important to evaluate pain intensity carefully in aged people. There are different self-report scales for pain evaluation in elderly individuals, however, only a few studies have compared these scales. This study was conducted to compare 2 regular pain scales: FPS-R and NRS in the elderly population. Methods: In this cross sectional study, we evaluated 2 different pain assessment tools. A total of 120 bedridden patients, who were older than 65 years, and were admitted in governmental hospitals in Hamadan-Iran were studied during 3 months (May-July 2016). For evaluating pain, we used the FPS-R (faces pain scale-revised) and NRS (numerical rating scale). All participants' information were gathered in a checklist and analyzed using the SPSS 16 software. Results: All patients had some degree of pain that started from 1 month to over 6 months ago, among them, 115 (96%) had persistent pain. The mean pain intensity in the participants was similar with both scales. There was a strong correlation between the 2 scales when using the Pearson correlation method (r = 0.735, P < 0.001). The age group analysis showed a significant difference in different age subgroups, therefore, the 75 -85 year old age group had the highest and > 85 years old had the lowest pain intensity (7.07 vs. 5.36, respectively using NRS, PV = 0.014) Conclusions: Pain has a remarkable prevalence in bedridden patients in Hamadan. Both scales: the FPS-R and NRS scales had a strong correlation for measuring pain intensity in the elderly patient population, however, simplicity of the FPS-R scale for use with the older adults, makes it an appropriate pain scale in clinical practice. Future studies need to evaluate a suitable management pain for older adults.