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Facial Expression Discriminates Between Pain And Absence Of Pain In The Non-Communicative, Critically Ill Adult Patient, Mamoona Arif-Rahu
Facial Expression Discriminates Between Pain And Absence Of Pain In The Non-Communicative, Critically Ill Adult Patient, Mamoona Arif-Rahu
Theses and Dissertations
BACKGROUND: Pain assessment is a significant challenge in critically ill adults, especially those unable to communicate their pain level. At present there is no universally accepted pain scale for use in the non-communicative (cognitively impaired, sedated, paralyzed or mechanically ventilated) patient. Facial expressions are considered among the most reflexive and automatic nonverbal indices of pain. The facial expression component of pain assessment tools include a variety of facial descriptors (wincing, frowning, grimacing, smile/relaxed) with inconsistent pain intensity ratings or checklists of behaviors. The lack of consistent facial expression description and quantification of pain intensity makes standardization of pain evaluation difficult. …