Validity and reliability of the Neonatal Infant Acute Pain Assessment Scale (NIAPAS) in Turkish: prospective study

BACKGROUNDUsing pain scales helps nurses in making early diagnoses and in assessing and managing pain symptoms and findings when developing a nursing care plan. OBJECTIVETo determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish form of the Neonatal Infant Acute Pain Assessment Scale (NIAPAS). DESIGN AND SETTINGProspective study conducted in Istanbul Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. METHODS145 newborns in the 26th to 42nd gestational weeks that were receiving treatment and care in the neonatal intensive care unit were included in this study. A total of 1740 pain assessments were made by two independent observers on these 145 newborns. The research data was collected using a newborn description form, NIAPAS and the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS). RESULTSThe scope validity index of NIAPAS was found to be between 0.90 and 1.00 and its Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.914. Correlations between characteristics and total scores (r = 0.20-0.82) were found to be sufficiently high. In an assessment on concurrency validity, there was a strong positive relationship between NIAPAS and NIPS scores (r = 0.73-0.82; P < 0.000). From kappa analysis (0.73-0.99) and intraclass correlation (r = 0.75-0.96), it was determined that there was concordance between the observers. CONCLUSIONNIAPAS was found to be a valid and reliable scale for evaluating acute pain in newborns.