SynthesisBritish journal of anaesthesia2022
Utility of unidimensional and functional pain assessment tools in adult postoperative patients: a systematic review.
Synthesis in British journal of anaesthesia, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Psychometric Properties of Pain Scales in Inpatient Settings: An Umbrella Review.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of dexmedetomidine on patient-centred outcomes in surgical patients: a systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis.British journal of anaesthesia · 2024Pooled it
- Detecting Feigned Pain Using an Eye-Tracker Integrated Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS).Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Trial
- Effects of a Serratus Anterior Plane Block After Video-Assisted Lung Wedge Resection: A Single-Center, Prospective, and Randomized Controlled Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Trial
- The Impact of Recorded Music on Postoperative Delirium in Older Adults After Hip Fracture Surgery (IPOD): A Quasi-Experimental Study.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
- Comparison of four unidimensional pain scales and women's preferences during the first stage of labor: a cross-sectional study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Beyond numeric scales: validity of the EQ-5D-5L pain/discomfort dimension in postoperative pain assessment after minimally invasive colorectal cancer surgery.The Korean journal of pain · 2026Article
- Analysis of Current Pain Management in Total Knee Arthroplasty in 8 Tertiary Hospitals in China Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Article
- Hypothermia and recovery outcomes before and after implementation of a multimodal perioperative temperature-management bundle in minimally invasive radical rectal cancer surgery.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Predictive Value of Early Nursing Scores on 90-Day Outcomes in Intracerebral Hemorrhage Patients.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Article
- Clinical practice guidelines for postoperative pain management in adults (2024 edition).Journal of anesthesia and translational medicine · 2025Review
- Discrimination and wellbeing are differentially related to pain severity for the racially marginalized.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Pain intensity and prognosis of acute pancreatitis in an international, prospective study.The British journal of surgery · 2025Article
- A core outcome set of measurement instruments for assessing effectiveness and efficacy of perioperative pain management: results of the international IMI-PainCare PROMPT Delphi consensus process.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Article
- A critical approach to research on perioperative pain management.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Article
- Best Evidence Summary for Perioperative Pain Management in Patients With Pectus Excavatum.Pain research & management · 2025Review
- Postpartum continuous epidural analgesia on pain, sleep quality, and emotional state in childbearing women: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Use of opioids and opioid alternatives during general anesthesia: a pan-Canadian survey among anesthesiologists.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2024Article
- Measurement of acute postoperative pain intensity in orthopedic trials: a qualitative concept elicitation study.Acta orthopaedica · 2024Article
- To Be in Pain: Pain Multidimensional Questionnaire as Reliable Tool to Evaluate Multifaceted Aspects of Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWe aimed to appraise the evidence relating to the measurement properties of unidimensional tools to quantify pain after surgery. Furthermore, we wished to identify the tools used to assess interference of pain with functional recovery.
methodsFour electronic sources (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO) were searched in August 2020. Two reviewers independently screened articles and assessed risk of bias using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist.
resultsThirty-one studies with a total of 12 498 participants were included. Most of the studies failed to meet the methodological quality standards required by COSMIN. Studies of unidimensional assessment tools were underpinned by low-quality evidence for reliability (five studies), and responsiveness (seven studies). Convergent validity was the most studied property (13 studies) with moderate to high correlation ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 between unidimensional tools. Interpretability results were available only for the visual analogue scale (seven studies) and numerical rating scale (four studies). Studies on functional assessment tools were scarce; only one study included an 'Objective Pain Score,' a tool assessing pain interference with respiratory function, and it had low-quality for convergent validity.
conclusionsThis systematic review challenges the validity and reliability of unidimensional tools in adult patients after surgery. We found no evidence that any one unidimensional tool has superior measurement properties in assessing postoperative pain. In addition, because promoting function is a crucial perioperative goal, psychometric validation studies of functional pain assessment tools are needed to improve pain assessment and management. CLINICAL
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42020213495.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.