There are no reliable tools that evaluate pain in adult critical care patients who cannot communicate as a result of sedation or illness. This was an observational study in which postoperative cardiothoracic intensive care patients were assessed for pain using both the newly devised Corbett Pain Scale (CPS) and the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS). The CPS was evaluated for content validity, criterion validity, construct validity, test re-test reliability and internal consistency. Thirteen male and seven female patients (n=20) were enrolled and underwent a maximum of five pain assessments each. The mean total scores of the CPS (.740, SD+1.03) and the NRS (.000, SD+1.00) were compared using a paired t-test. No significant differences were found. There was poor internal consistency (-.1225) and there was insignificant correlation between the scales. Pain measurement of sedated, non-communicative patients continues to be problematic.
","abstract_html":"<p>There are no reliable tools that evaluate pain in adult critical care patients who cannot communicate as a result of sedation or illness. This was an observational study in which postoperative cardiothoracic intensive care patients were assessed for pain using both the newly devised Corbett Pain Scale (CPS) and the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS). The CPS was evaluated for content validity, criterion validity, construct validity, test re-test reliability and internal consistency. Thirteen male and seven female patients (n=20) were enrolled and underwent a maximum of five pain assessments each. The mean total scores of the CPS (.740, SD+1.03) and the NRS (.000, SD+1.00) were compared using a paired t-test. No significant differences were found. There was poor internal consistency (-.1225) and there was insignificant correlation between the scales. Pain measurement of sedated, non-communicative patients continues to be problematic.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Corbett, Gina M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Health Related Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Chuck Biddle"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:30Z","subjects":["pain assessment","critical care","intensive care","patient communication","Anesthesiology","Medical Specialties","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":["© The Author"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/773"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/773","href":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/773","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25772/7ZZY-2763","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Chuck Biddle"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Corbett, Gina M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-09T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Health Related Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["pain assessment","critical care","intensive care","patient communication","Anesthesiology","Medical Specialties","Medicine and Health Sciences"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© The Author"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.25772/7ZZY-2763","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/773"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["There are no reliable tools that evaluate pain in adult critical care patients who cannot communicate as a result of sedation or illness. This was an observational study in which postoperative cardiothoracic intensive care patients were assessed for pain using both the newly devised Corbett Pain Scale (CPS) and the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS). The CPS was evaluated for content validity, criterion validity, construct validity, test re-test reliability and internal consistency. Thirteen male and seven female patients (n=20) were enrolled and underwent a maximum of five pain assessments each. The mean total scores of the CPS (.740, SD+1.03) and the NRS (.000, SD+1.00) were compared using a paired t-test. No significant differences were found. There was poor internal consistency (-.1225) and there was insignificant correlation between the scales. Pain measurement of sedated, non-communicative patients continues to be problematic.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Corbett Pain Scale: A Multidimensional Pain Scale for Adult Intensive Care Patients"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Chuck Biddle"],"dc:creator":["Corbett, Gina M."],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["There are no reliable tools that evaluate pain in adult critical care patients who cannot communicate as a result of sedation or illness. This was an observational study in which postoperative cardiothoracic intensive care patients were assessed for pain using both the newly devised Corbett Pain Scale (CPS) and the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS). The CPS was evaluated for content validity, criterion validity, construct validity, test re-test reliability and internal consistency. Thirteen male and seven female patients (n=20) were enrolled and underwent a maximum of five pain assessments each. The mean total scores of the CPS (.740, SD+1.03) and the NRS (.000, SD+1.00) were compared using a paired t-test. No significant differences were found. There was poor internal consistency (-.1225) and there was insignificant correlation between the scales. Pain measurement of sedated, non-communicative patients continues to be problematic.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://doi.org/10.25772/7ZZY-2763","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/773"],"dc:rights":["© The Author"],"dc:subject":["pain assessment","critical care","intensive care","patient communication","Anesthesiology","Medical Specialties","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"dc:title":["The Corbett Pain Scale: A Multidimensional Pain Scale for Adult Intensive Care Patients"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Health Related Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:30Z"}