Panda: Evaluation of a Smartphone-based Perioperative Pain Assessment Tool (Panda)

This study will evaluate Panda, a smartphone-based pain assessment tool. During a child's recovery from surgery, a Post-Anesthetic Care Unit nurse will assess their pain, which helps determine what medication they need. Traditionally, this involves asking the child to rate their pain on a scale from 1 to 10, by moving a slider along a coloured scale or pointing to one of a series of faces on a piece of card. The Panda uses the same methods, but presents them on a smartphone screen. Our evaluation will ensure that the Panda gives the same pain scores as the traditional methods.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Acute Post-operative Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Panda first followed by manual pain assessment; Device: Manual first followed by Panda pain assessment

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to ensure that Panda, a smartphone-based pain assessment tool, can be used effectively by children after surgery and that the pain scores it obtains agree with the scores obtained using traditional methods of pain assessment. In particular the aim is to show agreement (a) between pain scores obtained using Panda and pain scores obtained using the Faces Pain Scale-Revised for 4-12 year olds and (b) between pain scores obtained using Panda and pain scores obtained using the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS) for 5-18 year olds.

We will recruit children between 4 and 18 years old, in general good health, who are scheduled for surgery. We will exclude any child who has a psychiatric diagnosis, developmental delay or brain injury, significant visual impairment or psychomotor dysfunction.

This study is taking place in the Post-anesthetic Care Unit (PACU) at BC Children's Hospital. We will recruit 200 children in total. The study procedures include the following:

Stage 1 - pre-clinical usability study: we will conduct a series of participatory design sessions with nurses in the PACU and with 20 children in the Surgical Day Care Unit (SDCU)

Stage 2 - clinical validation study: children will be asked to rate their pain using both the Panda and a traditional tool (which is used first will be decided randomly); during this stage, children will also be asked their opinion (e.g. which tool they preferred using and about any problems they experienced using either tool).

All scores will be recorded on the Panda device and extracted at the end of each day. No pain medication will be administered on the basis of a pain score obtained using the Panda.

Panda will be compared with the traditional method (FPS-R and CAS) within 3 different age groups (4-8, 8-12 and 12-18), using the following criteria: practicality, based on failure rates in obtaining pain scores from Panda compared with traditional method; preference for Panda compared with traditional method; agreement between the Panda score and the traditional score.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 144
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • British Columbia
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6H 3V4
      • British Columbia Children's Hospital Department of Anesthesia

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 4 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Undergoing a surgical procedure for which there is an anticipated post-surgical pain model
• Age 4 - 18 years
• ASA I-III, not requiring admission to PICU
• Written parental/guardian informed consent and subject informed assent when required (subject age ≥ 7 years)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children who have not undergone a surgical procedure (e.g. MRI, X-ray or endoscopy patients)
• Inability or refusal to provide informed consent/assent
• Developmental delay, neurological injury or psychomotor dysfunction
• Children who have a significant visual impairment or have undergone eye surgery

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Panda first; Panda evaluation of post-operative pain first, followed by manual method of pain assessment.	Device: Panda first followed by manual pain assessment; Panda is a smart-phone based application designed to assess post-operative pain; manual method involves use of CAS/FPS-R on paper. Panda will be used first, manual method 5 mins later.
Other: Manual first; Manual evaluation of post-operative pain first followed by Panda pain assessment.	Device: Manual first followed by Panda pain assessment; Panda is a smart-phone based application designed to assess post-operative pain; manual method involves use of CAS/FPS-R on paper. Manual method will be used first, Panda 5 mins later.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Concordance between the electronic and paper versions of the FPS-R and CAS pain scales	The study aims to measure concordance between the (a) pain scores obtained using Panda and pain scores obtained using the Faces Pain Scale-Revised for 4-12 year olds and (b) pain scores obtained using Panda and pain scores obtained using the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS) for 5-18 year olds.	Up to 2 hours following surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of British Columbia
• Investigators: Study Director: Mark Ansermino, UBC/Medicine, Faculty of/Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics; Principal Investigator: Gillian Lauder, UBC/Medicine, Faculty of/Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 29, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 31, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): June 4, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 26, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2017
• Last Verified: October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Postoperative Complications; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Pain, Postoperative
• Other Study ID Numbers: H12-01273