SynthesisJournal of pain and symptom management2025
Validation of Pediatric Self-Report Pain Scales in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of pain and symptom management, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of cryoanaesthesia on pain during intraoral anaesthetic puncture in children: a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026Article
- Validation of a Swahili Pediatric Pain Scale in Tanzania: An Observational Study.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
contextPediatric self-report pain scales must be validated in cultural/language contexts to provide optimal pain management. Sub-Saharan Africa included vast numbers of people groups, cultures, and languages.
objectiveThis systematic review sought to identify studies that validated a self-report pediatric pain scale within a sub-Saharan African context.
methodWe searched CINAHL, EMBASE, and PubMed combining four concepts: children, pain, sub-Saharan Africa, and scales. Two independent reviewers screened abstracts for the inclusion criteria: English, prospective studies, a pediatric population, and conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. Full text of qualifying citations was obtained.
resultsOf 1591 citations identified, six were included. Self-report pain scales included the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R), Faces Pain Scale, McGill Questionnaire, Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Oucher Pain Scale and Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Validation characteristics varied from construct validity (two studies) to convergent validity (three studies) and discriminant validity (three studies). Methods included qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson/Spearman's correlation coefficients were strongest between self-report pain scales and weakest when compared to observational scales. The interview-based studies also assessed decision making process, comprehension, ease of use, pain perception, gender, and societal roles. Languages included were English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Amharic, Swahili, Grammar English, Cameroonian Pidgin English and French.
conclusion5 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have a self-report pediatric pain scale validated in their national language/context. Validation methods varied widely from qualitative to quantitative, including convergent, discriminant and face validity. Given the burden of pediatric pain in sub-Saharan Africa, further work is required to provide culturally appropriate and language-specific pain tools.
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Registered trials
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