Meet BPAT: A New Way To Assess Pain In Nonverbal Patients

Following surgery or during an illness, most patients are asked to rate their pain on a numeric scale. As an alternative, some nurses/health care workers use facial expressions as a gage. There are pros and cons to these methods, of course. There are also patients who cannot respond verbally or provide facial cues, even though they may be in severe pain. The unconscious patient in an ICU is an example of this sort of patient, and perhaps some dementia patients are this sort, too.

A new pain assessment tool known as BPAT (Behavior Pain Assessment Tool) may be the answer to this problem. This tool evaluates eight behavioral clues, including facial expression, muscle responses, and verbal expressions to determine a patients pain level. While being studied, this new pain tool was used on persons who were able to communicate, then compared to what the patient's rating on a ten point scale. It was reported to be reliable in two of every three patients studied. Further evaluation will help to determine how the BPAT's accuracy can be enhanced.

Sources: Maxipixel; OncologyNurseAdvisor

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