[The Faces Pain Thermometer: a new tool for critically ill adults].

The Faces Pain Thermometer (FPT) was developed for critically ill adults. It consists of a thermometer graded from 0 to 10, including six faces. The aim of this study was to examine the metric qualities of this new tool. A convenience sample of 105 cardiac surgery ICU patients participated in this study. Patients rated their pain intensity using the FPT and a validated descriptive scale at three moments : at rest (T1), during a nociceptive procedure (turning, T2), and at rest 20 minutes after the procedure (T3). A focused interview questionnaire was then completed in order to examine content validity and clinical use of the tool. The results showed that the patients positively evaluated the content and the use of the FPT. Most patients mentioned that they preferred faces to rate their level of pain. Convergent validity was supported with high Spearman correlations and Kappa coefficients between the two pain intensity scales (FPT and descriptive scale). Discriminant validity was also supported with a higher pain intensity score during the nociceptive procedure (turning). The Faces Pain Thermometer showed acceptable metric qualities. This tool seems to be useful for pain assessment in critically ill patients and its implementation has been initiated in some clinical settings of the province of Quebec.