Psychometric Testing of the Spanish Version of the Pain Level Outcome Scale in Hospitalized Patients With Acute Pain

PURPOSE: This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties and sensitivity to change of the Spanish version of the Pain Level Outcome Scale. METHODS: This article applied observational longitudinal validation study with patients suffering from acute pain at three hospitals. FINDINGS: The study included 73 patients. Inter-rater agreement was kappa = .88 and internal consistency alpha = .93. Principal components analysis yielded four components that explained 81.86% of the variance; the correlation with the Numerical Pain Intensity Scale was r = -.81. CONCLUSIONS: The version with 17 indicators shows good psychometric properties and adequate sensitivity to change. A Spanish version of the Pain Level Outcome Scale with 17 indicators is proposed as a structured multidimensional instrument to help nurses choose the most appropriate indicators for assessing patients' pain.