Anesthesia & Clinical Research
Open Access

Abstract

The Validity and Reliability of the Arabic Version of FLACC Scale: A Clinical Trial

Rahaf Dak Albab, Hisham Shakhashero and Mohamad Basier Al-Monaqel

Introduction and aim: It is difficult to determine pain level using (patient-based-pain) scales in children. Hence, there is a need to translate (Arabizate) of an international non-self-pain scale (FLACC) as an alternativeclinicianbasedpain scale, and test its psychometric properties (validity and reliability). Materials and methods: The study was carried out on (250) children who needed dental treatments, aged (6-14) years, their behavior were valuated as definitely positive or positive (according to Behavior Frankl Scale) in Damascus-University. Each child has received local injection in one side and a placebo (touching the oral mucosa with covered needle) in the other side. Children were filmed with a digital camera to record pain reaction. The reactions were evaluated by two examiners (blinded-injection type) using; FLACC (Face-Legs-Activity-Cry- Consolability) and SEM (Sound-Eye-Motor) scales. Results: About 2000 non-self-assessments were obtained. FLACC scale showed high Construct Validity because of the rising of pain intensity from (0.13) with placebo into (3.6) with injection. Criterion Validity was good between FLACC and SEM. The scale showed high Internal Consistency Validity where values of correlation coefficients ranged (0.723-0.792) between scale items and its total degree. FLACC showed good reliability; correlation coefficient between external evaluators (r=0.805), Cronbach's alpha value was high (0.809), and Kappa value reached (0.952) for the first evaluator and (0.893) for the other. These positive values pointed to high reliability of the (FLACC) scale. Conclusion: The Arabic version of (FLACC) scale characterized by validity and reliability, and it is recommended to use.