The Psychometric Properties of the MBPS Scale Used to Assess Procedural Pain

Abstract

The Modified Behavioral Pain Scale (MBPS) was designed to assess procedural pain in infants and is considered valid for assessing immunization pain. The aim of this study was to assess the practical and psychometric properties of the MBPS when applied to other commonly performed procedures. Twenty-six clinicians independently applied the MBPS scale to segments of video collected from 100 infants and children aged 6 to 42 months undergoing 1 of 4 procedures in the emergency department. Positive correlation between MBPS and Visual Analogue Scale observer applied (VASobs) pain (r = .74) was shown and inter- and intrarater reliability coefficients were high (.87 and .89, respectively). Construct..