Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation Into French of the COMFORTneo Pain Assessment Tool for Newborns (TradNeo)

March 6, 2026 updated by: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Observational pain assessment scales are essential for the management of pain in young children, particularly in newborns.

Numerous observational pain assessment scales for newborns and preterm infants exist worldwide; however, only four are available in validated French versions: EVENDOL, EDIN, DAN, and Comfort-B, each with specific indications for use. These scales were developed in France, validated in French, or recommended by expert groups (Comfort-B).

The COMFORTneo scale was developed and validated by a Dutch research team for the assessment of pain in term and preterm newborns, regardless of their level of ventilation or sedo-analgesia. Although it has been validated in several languages, no validated French translation is currently available.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

To treat pain, it is first necessary to recognize and assess it. Pain assessment is the responsibility of all healthcare professionals. It is framed both by patients' rights and by healthcare professionals' duties, as defined by their codes of ethics and professional competency regulations. The identification and measurement of pain through an "assessment adapted to the patient's clinical condition" were notably specified in the latest French healthcare facility certification standards as a mandatory criterion.

In neonatal care units, the patient population is highly heterogeneous, and levels of care vary depending on the hospitalization setting (Maternity, Mother-Baby Unit, Neonatology, Intermediate Care, or NICU). A newborn hospitalized in a neonatal unit is exposed to an average of 16 painful procedures per day of hospitalization. The long-term negative impact of pain on these newborns-on their responses to re-exposure to painful procedures, on their development, and on their future health - is now widely described in the literature.

There is no formal objective measure of pain; therefore, pain can only be approached through subjective assessment. Pain assessment in young children, particularly in newborns and infants who cannot express themselves verbally, is even more complex and must distinguish between pain-related manifestations and those related to other sensations or needs. Several research studies have contributed to a better understanding of pain manifestations in this population and have supported the development of pain assessment scales. By "measuring" certain behavioral, physiological, or contextual indicators, these scales aim to estimate the pain experienced by the child. This mode of assessment is referred to as observational assessment (proxy assessment), meaning that the evaluation is performed by someone other than the person experiencing pain.

Several pain assessment scales have been extensively studied, and their psychometric properties as well as their clinical relevance have been validated through high-quality studies. Numerous tools are therefore currently available for use in young children. However, these instruments are sometimes validated for very specific populations, and there is no international or national consensus regarding the choice of tool, which is often left to the discretion of each clinical unit.

For example, in a neonatal unit in mainland France, it is currently possible to find up to three different pain assessment scales used to evaluate all hospitalized patients within the same unit, depending on gestational age, level of ventilation, and level of sedation (EDIN, DAN, EVENDOL, and COMFORT-B are the pain scales validated for neonatology in France by the French National Authority for Health [HAS]).

The primary objectives of pain assessment are to identify pain, characterize it, and monitor its evolution, particularly after the initiation of analgesic treatment, as well as to establish a common language among healthcare professionals. It therefore appears important and relevant, in order to minimize measurement bias, that pain assessment relies on a single tool, especially within the same clinical unit.

This study is a prospective observational study for the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the COMFORTneo neonatal pain assessment scale, involving a multidisciplinary expert committee of medical, paramedical, and translation professional

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
50

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • France
    • Île-de-France Region
      • Paris, Île-de-France Region, France, 75015
        • Centre d'Evaluation et de Traitement de la Douleur, Médecine Palliative (CETD-MP)
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Cohort of healthcare professionals working in neonatal care units.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Licensed healthcare professionals currently working in a neonatal care unit.
  • Healthcare professionals authorized by their professional qualifications or regulations to assess patient pain, including nurses, specialized nurses, and physicians.
  • Healthcare professionals employed at AP-HP (Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris).

Exclusion Criteria:

- Refusal to participate, indicated by non-response to the questionnaire.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Professionals
Other: Pre test
During the pretesting phase, items will be evaluated on a 5-point Likert scale by representative participants, and any item scored below 2/5 by more than 20% of participants will be revised. The CVI will also be recalculated for each item and overall to confirm content validity.
Multidisciplinary expert committee
Other: Expert committee
A multidisciplinary expert committee will review all translated items of the COMFORTneo scale, including paramedical, medical, and translation professionals. Each item will be rated on a 4-point Likert scale to calculate the initial Content Validity Index (CVI).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Content Validity and Linguistic Equivalence of the French COMFORTneo Scale
Time Frame: Within 1 month after the completion of the expert committee review and statistical CVI calculation.
Evaluation of the relevance and fidelity of the translated items through a multidisciplinary expert committee. Experts will compare the back-translated English version with the original COMFORTneo items. Using a 4-point Likert scale, each item will be rated for its linguistic accuracy and clinical relevance. This process includes the calculation of the Content Validity Index (CVI). Items with low validity will be adjusted or modified to obtain the final experimental French version.
Within 1 month after the completion of the expert committee review and statistical CVI calculation.
Comprehensibility Assessment (Pre-testing phase)
Time Frame: Within 3 months after the completion of the pretesting phase at all clinical site
A 4-point Likert scale will be used for each translated item, asking healthcare professionals to evaluate its comprehensibility. For any item receiving a low score (1 or 2), qualitative feedback and suggestions for improvement will be collected to ensure the final version is clear and unambiguous
Within 3 months after the completion of the pretesting phase at all clinical site

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 11, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 11, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 6, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • APHP251490

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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