Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2006
Review Meta AnalysisPain assessment tools: is the content appropriate for use in palliative care?
Inadequate pain assessment prevents optimal treatment in palliative care. The content of pain assessment tools might limit their usefulness for proper pain assessment, but data on the content validity of the tools are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the content of the existing pain assessment tools, and to evaluate the appropriateness of different dimensions and items for pain assessment in palliative care. ⋯ Many tools include dimensions and items of limited relevance for patients with advanced cancer. This might reduce compliance and threaten the validity of the assessment. New tools should reflect the clinical relevance of different dimensions and be user-friendly.