Pilot Study to Validate a Functional Pain Scale for Orthopedic Patients
Harris W Thomas, Jill Stenson, Lee Holman, Kirtanaa Voralu
Objective: This study was to validate a functional pain scale (FPS) in order to better identify issues of
pain as it relates to returning the patient to a functional status.
Methods: An observational cohort study was conducted to validate a new pain scale to improve patient
experience as well as determine patient and provider preference for a pain scale.
Results: The data was analyzed and showed a strong correlation between the RPH-FPS, NRS (NRS:
r (49) = 0.63, p0.001) and Wong-Baker FACES (FACES scale: r (49) = 0.65, p<0.001) scales. The
analysis also showed an overwhelming preference for the RPH-FPS over the other two scales.
Conclusion: There is a strong significant correlation between the RPH-FPS and the NRS as well as
Wong-Baker FACES scales. However, the overwhelming preference by the patients when asked which
scale was preferred was in favor of the RPH-FPS. The most common reason for their choice was
that the scale was more descriptive and gave the patient more opportunity to describe how pain was
affecting their recovery. This was also found to be true of the surgical residents that were completing the
assessment and survey.
