Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
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Because of difficulty experienced in assessing pain in frail older patients and the lack of pain assessment tools with standardization in the elderly, the Functional Pain Scale (FPS), an instrument incorporating both subjective and objective components to assess pain, was developed and evaluated. ⋯ The Functional Pain Scale was determined to be reliable, valid, and responsive. The responsiveness of the Functional Pain Scale was superior to the other instruments tested. The Functional Pain Scale is an acceptable instrument for assessing pain in older adults and may reflect changes in pain better than other instruments tested. Further testing in other populations is warranted.