Promise of Composite Pain Index as a single pain outcome for sickle cell disease across the lifespan

Background This study aimed to validate a Composite Pain Index (CPI) as a single pain outcome measure for sickle cell disease (SCD) across the lifespan from 8 years of age. Procedure This prospective, cross‐sectional study included 55 participants with SCD who completed the PAINReportIt tool and Adolescent Pediatric Pain Tool (APPT) in random order during outpatient visits to derive respective CPI scores for comparison. Results Of the 55 participants with SCD, 46 (84%) had HgbSS, eight (15%) HgbSC, and one (2%) HgbSβ0+. The mean age of all participants was 17.5 ± 2.6 years, and 28 (51%) were female, 52 (95%) were Black, 42 (98%) were non‐Hispanic, and 39 (71%) had a ninth grade or higher education. Correlation analyses between the APPT and PAINReportIt revealed positive associations for the number of pain sites (r = .57, p