Optimalisatie en validatie van de Vlaamse Observationele Pijnschaal bij Meervoudige Beperkingen (VOPS-MB) voor personen met een Meervoudige Beperking: een multidisciplinaire benadering

Optimization and validation of the Flemish Observational Pain Scale for Multiple Disabilities (VOPS-MB) for individuals with multiple disabilities: a multidisciplinary approach Introduction: People with severe cognitive impairments and multiple disabilities often experience pain, but this pain frequently goes unrecognized or untreated, negatively impacting their quality of life. Pain management in this group is challenging due to limited communication abilities and the lack of validated pain assessment tools. Aim: This study aims to optimize and validate the VOPS-MB pain scale of the Leieborg Care Center in Deinze for use with individuals with multiple disabilities. Methods: Optimization was carried out through a systematic literature review, an expert focus group, and a Delphi study. The scale's validation was tested through observations of 50 care recipients at the center, with inter-rater reliability measured using Pearson's r correlation coefficient and Cohen's kappa. Results: The optimized pain scale demonstrated high inter-rater reliability, with a Pearson's r of 0.947 and a Kappa value of 0.867. These results indicate that the scale provides reliable results, even when observations are conducted by individuals unfamiliar with the care recipient. Conclusion: This study shows that the pain scale is useful, practical and adequate to use in practice. Furthermore, the findings suggest that this pain scale can also be used in other contexts. The scale enables accurate pain measurement in people with intellectual disabilities, regardless of the observer's knowledge of the patient. Further validation, including digitization and testing for responsiveness, is recommended to enhance the scale's usability.