Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) Pain Measurement Scale: Research Protocol

Abstract

Introduction: The main objective of this study is to validate the PIPP-R scale (Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised) for measuring neonatal pain in the Spanish hospital setting. Materials and Methods: The original scale will be translated from English into Spanish and a consensus translation will be prepared by the research team, which will be back-translated from Spanish into English. The content validity of the Spanish version of the scale will be measured using the Delphi method. Subsequently, a multicenter observational study will be conducted to assess construct validity, internal consistency, and intra-observer and inter-observer agreement. Pain will be assessed by comparing scores for a specific non-painful procedure with those for a specific painful procedure. The sample will include 300 subjects in intensive care and intermediate care units, who will be equally distributed among the participating hospitals. The subjects will be stratified into three groups by gestational age. Discussion: The original version of the PIPP-R scale is useful for objectively assessing neonatal acute and procedural pain from a gestational age of 25 weeks and over. It is important to culturally adapt the original validated scale and to test its validity and reliability in the Spanish healthcare context. The results of this study may represent significant progress in pain management.