Validity and Reliability of the Korean Version of the Pain Assessment Checklist for Seniors with Limited Ability to Communicate

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop and test the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Pain Assessment Checklist for Seniors with Limited Ability to Communicate (PACSLAC-K) in assessing pain of elders with dementia living in long-term care facilities. METHODS: The PACSLAC-K was developed through forward-backward translation techniques. Survey data were collected from 307 elders with dementia living in 5 long-term care facilities in Korea. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, Spearman's rho, paired t-test, ROC (receiver operation characteristic) curve with the SPSS/WIN (20.0) program. RESULTS: The PACSLAC-K showed high internal consistency (.90), inter-rater reliability (.86), intra-rater reliability (.93), and high concurrent validity (.74) in paired t-test with PAINAD. Discriminant validity also showed a significant difference compared with no pain. The PACSLAC-K showed a sensitivity of .93, specificity of .88, and Area Under the Curve of .95 in the ROC curve. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study demonstrate that PACSLAC-K is useful in assessing pain for elders with dementia living in long-term care facilities.