Chronic Pain Assessments in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Literature Review of the Selection, Administration, Interpretation, and Reporting of Unidimensional Pain Intensity Scales

Table 3

Study characteristics and quality assessments by two independent reviewers.

Tool	Author and year	Chronic pain condition		Mean age (years)	SD (years)	Female	Range	Quality score; /10
VAS	Abu-Saad and Uiterwijk (1995) [35]	Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis	33	—	—	72.3%	7–16	5
VAS	Astfalck et al. (2010) [36]	Chronic low back pain	28	15.55	0.5	50%	14–16	1
VAS	Chan et al. (2009) [37]	Chronic daily headache	12	—	—	—	14–18	2
VAS	Cohen et al. (2010) [38]	Chronic pain	222	14.8	1.9	74.6%	10–18	5
VAS	de Oliveira et al. (2011) [39]	Juvenile idiopathic arthritis	80	11.6	—	42%	8–14	2
VAS	Eccleston et al. (2004) [40]	Chronic pain	80	14.45	1.55	71.25%	11–17	5
VAS	Gold et al. (2009) [41]	Chronic pain	80	13.89	2.57	72.5%	8–18	5
VAS	Gragg et al. (1996) [42]	Rheumatic disease	100	12.2	2.49	68%	8–16	5
VAS	Guite et al. (2011) [27]	Chronic pain	259	15.10	1.64	77.6%	12–18	5
VAS	Hunfeld et al. (2002) [43]	Chronic pain	42	14.5	1.6	—	12–18	7
VAS	Hunfeld et al. (2002) [44]	Chronic pain	85	8.4	2.25	65.88%	5–11	5
VAS	Jacob et al. (2012) [45]	Sickle cell disease	31	13.4	2.4	51.6%	10–17	6
VAS	Kashikar-Zuck et al. (2011) [28]	Chronic pain	1300	14.2	2.4	76%	8–18	5
VAS	Kashikar-Zuck et al. (2012) [46]	Juvenile fibromyalgia	114	15	1.8	92.1%	11–18	4
VAS	Konijnenberg et al. (2005) [47]	Chronic pain	149	11.8	—	73%	8–18	5
VAS	Logan et al. (2006) [48]	Chronic pain	112	15.3	1.3	79.46%	13–18	3
VAS	Lynch et al. (2006) [49]	Chronic back pain	65	14.9	2.6	80%	8–18	6
VAS	Schanberg et al. (2003) [50]	Polyarticular arthritis	41	12.3	2.9	59%	8–17	5
VAS	Stinson et al. (2008) [51]	Juvenile idiopathic arthritis	112	13	2.45	—	8–17	6
VAS	Stinson et al. (2013) [52]	Cancer	47	13.4	—	—	9–18	6
VAS	Swain et al. (2005) [53]	Juvenile fibromyalgia	22	15.62	1.33	100%	13–17	5
VAS	Varni et al. (1987) [54]	Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis	25	9.5	3.17	76%	5–15	7
VAS	Vervoort et al. (2008) [34]	Chronic pain	71	13.33	2.83	57.38%	8–18	4
VAS	Vetter et al. (2014) [55]	Chronic Pain	99	13.2	2.4	71%	8–17	5
NRS	Claar et al. (2008) [56]	Chronic pain	254	14.69	1.49	76.8%	12–17	6
NRS	Cornelissen et al. (2014) [57]	Juvenile idiopathic arthritis	60	13	—	73%	7–17	5
NRS	Guite et al. (2011) [27]	Chronic pain	259	15.10	1.64	77.6%	12–18	5
NRS	Hainsworth et al. (2007) [58]	Chronic pain	60	14.0	2.7	81.7%	8–18	5
NRS	Hainsworth et al. (2009) [59]	Chronic pain	319	13.4	2.7	71%	8–18	4
NRS	Hechler et al. (2014) [29]	Chronic pain	87	14	3.4	74.66%	9–17	6
NRS	Hicks et al. (2006) [60]	Chronic pain	47	11.7	2.1	63.83	9–16	4
NRS	Hirschfeld et al. (2013) [61]	Chronic pain	167	14.1	1.91	62%	11–18	6
NRS	Hirschfeld et al. (2013) [17]	Chronic pain	2249	12.45	2.93	61%	—	2
NRS	Jastrowski et al. (2013) [62]	Chronic pain	6	15	—	—	12–17	4
NRS	Logan et al. (2008) [63]	Chronic pain	414	14.7	1.6	75.6%	12–17	4
NRS	Logan et al. (2013) [64]	Chronic pain	614	13.88	—	74.73%	7–18	5
NRS	Palermo et al. (2008) [65]	Chronic pain	155	14.31	2.45	58.06%	8–18	5
NRS	Ruskin et al. (2014) [15]	Chronic pain	143	14.1	2.4	72%	8–17	6
NRS	Ruskin et al. (2015) [66]	Chronic pain	16	15.75	1.00	100%	13–17	5
NRS	Simons et al. (2010) [67]	Chronic pain	126	15	1.5	82.5%	12–17	5
NRS	Simons et al. (2015) [68]	Chronic pain	321	13.73	2.47	74.8%	8–18	5
NRS	Smith et al. (2015) [69]	Chronic pain	310	13.80	2.69	75.2%	8–17	5
NRS	Vowles et al. (2010) [70]	Chronic pain	209	14.8	1.9	74.6%	10–18	5
FPS	Claar and Walker (2006) [71]	Chronic abdominal pain	596	11.59	2.45	61%	8–17	5
FPS	Palermo et al. (2004) [72]	Chronic pain	189	12.4	2.5	60%	8–16	4
FPS	Palermo and Kiska (2005) [73]	Chronic pain	86	14.75	—	67%	13–16	4
FPS-revised	Hechler et al. (2014) [29]	Chronic pain	87	14	3.4	74.66%	9–17	6
FPS-revised	Kashikar-Zuck et al. (2011) [28]	Chronic pain	1300	14.2	2.4	76%	8–18	6
FPS-revised	Ramstad et al. (2011) [33]	Cerebral palsy	153	14.27	2.88	47.06%	8–18	7
Highest score achieved								7
Mean score								4.86
Standard deviation								1.26
Median score								5
Interquartile range								4–6