Turkish validity and reliability study of the Alder hey child triage pain scale

Aim: This study was performed to examine the Turkish validity and reliability of the Alder Hey Triage Pain Scale (AHTPS) for children aged 3-15 years who attended the pediatric emergency service with a complaint of pain. Material and method: The sample for the methodological research was composed of 300 children between the ages of 3 and 15 who attended the University Training and Research Hospital Pediatric Emergency Clinic with a complaint of pain. Data were collected by using the Child and Parent Descriptive Information Form, Emergency Service Patient Triage, Treatment and Observation Form, AHTPS, and Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale (WBFPS). Results: Of the children participating in the study, 54.3% were female and 30.7% were between the ages of 12-15. The total content validity index score of the AHTPS was determined as 0.99 and the content validity rate score was 0.98. The interobserver concordance of AHTPS was examined and the concordance of two observers was significant and very good (p < 0.001). For the concordance of scale with similar scales, the WBFPS was used and during the 1st and 2nd measurements, intra-observer reliability of AHTPS was statistically significant and very good (p < 0.001). Cronbach alpha values of the scale were in the range of 0.619 and 0.679 and the scale was reliable. Conclusions: As a result, the adaptation of the AHTPS to Turkish is a valid and reliable measurement tool. Practice implications: Pain assessment for children attending the emergency service should be performed more systematically with scales like the AHTPS. (c) 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.