Based on eight observable pain behaviors, the BPAT is particularly useful in identifying patients experiencing severe pain during procedures in the intensive care unit (ICU), according to the report by Céline Gélinas, RN, PhD, of McGill University, Montreal, and colleagues.
The researchers evaluated the BPAT's ability to assess procedure-related pain in critically ill adults. Many ICU patients are unable to communicate their pain because their clinical condition, altered level of consciousness, or mechanical ventilation and sedation prevents them from doing so. "Since none of those conditions precludes the perception of pain, it is essential that clinicians have valid and reliable pain assessment methods," Dr. Gélinas and coauthors write.
The BPAT used readily observable behaviors - facial expressions, verbal responses, and muscle responses - as potential indicators of pain during the procedures. Translated into 12 languages, the BPAT was evaluated during more than 4,800 procedures in 3,850 patients who were hospitalized in 192 ICUs in 28 countries.