Article

In this study, we investigated the reliability of the Nociception Coma
Scale which has recently been developed to assess nociception in
non-communicative, severely brain-injured patients.
DESIGN: Prospective
cross-sequential study. SETTING: Semi-intensive care unit and long-term brain
injury care. SUBJECTS: Forty-four patients diagnosed as being in a vegetative
state (n=26) or in a minimally conscious state (n=18). INTERVENTIONS: Patients
were assessed by two experts (rater A and rater B) on two consecutive weeks to
measure inter-rater agreement and test-retest reliability. MAIN MEASURES: Total
scores and subscores of the Nociception Coma Scale. RESULTS: We performed a total
of 176 assessments. The inter-rater agreement was moderate for the total scores
(k = 0.57) and fair to substantial for the subscores (0.33 </= k </= 0.62) on
week 2. The test-retest reliability was substantial for the total scores (k =
0.66) and moderate to almost perfect for the subscores (0.53 </= k </= 0.96) for
rater A. The inter-rater agreement was weaker on week 1, whereas the test-retest
reliability was lower for the least experienced rater (rater B). CONCLUSIONS:
This study provides further evidence of the psychometric qualities of the
Nociception Coma Scale. Future studies should assess the impact of practical
experience and background on administration and scoring of the scale.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS