• Dana D Im, Guruprasad D Jambaulikar, Anna Kikut, Jasmine Gale, and Scott G Weiner.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
• Pain Med. 2020 Dec 25; 21 (12): 3263-3269.

ObjectiveThe numeric rating scale (NRS), which does not capture the multidimensional experience of pain, is commonly used to measure pain in the emergency department (ED). In this study, we assess the utility and feasibility of the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) in the ED.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional, prospective, convenience sample study of adult patients presenting to the ED with chest, abdominal, or musculoskeletal pain. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we investigated the construct validity of the BPI-SF. We determined the association between NRS and BPI-SF scores. We assessed the feasibility and utility of administering the BPI-SF in the ED setting by evaluating 1) the time required to complete the BPI-SF and 2) how patients perceive the BPI-SF compared with the NRS.ResultsOne hundred participants were included for analysis. The median NRS pain level on ED arrival (interquartile range [IQR]) was 7 (5-8). The median BPI-SF score (IQR) was 57 (43-73) on a 0-110 scale. Fit indices for the two-factor structure were statistically superior when compared with the one-factor model of the BPI-SF (comparative fit index 0.90 vs 0.64). Higher pain severity score, pain interference score, and total BPI-SF score were associated with higher NRS scores (P < 0.01). The mean time needed to complete the BPI-SF (SD) was 3 minutes 47 seconds (1 minute 35 seconds). Seventy-three percent of the patients preferred the BPI-SF to the NRS for pain assessment in the ED.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates the validity, feasibility, and utility of the BPI-SF in the ED setting.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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