PainChek™ Effectiveness Confirmed

A second study has confirmed the clinical performance of PainChek™, showing it has excellent validity and reliable properties compared to the standard Abbey Pain Scale.

The study to be published in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders this year confirms previous clinical findings published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. It included 400 paired assessments in 34 people with moderate to severe dementia (aged 68-93 years), recruited from two aged care facilities in Western Australia.

PainChek™ assessments were blindly compared with the Abbey Pain Scale. The results showed that PainChek™ was able to distinguish the presence of pain under various clinical testing conditions reflective of rest and movement such as sitting and walking, respectively.

The PainChek™ app uses cameras in smartphones and tablets to capture a brief video of the person, which is analysed in real time using facial recognition software to detect the presence of facial micro- expressions that are indicative of the presence of pain.

This is then combined with other indicators of pain, such as vocalisations, behaviours and movements captured to calculate a pain severity score. Due to its speed, ease of use and reproducibility, PainChek™ is able to detect and measure a person’s pain, and then further measurements can be used to monitor the effectiveness of pain management.

PainChek™ will be rolled out globally in two phases: first, PainChek™ designed for adults who are unable to effectively verbalise their pain such as people with dementia, and second, PainChek™ for Children who have not yet learnt to speak.

ePAT Technologies, the creator of PainChek™, says it has received overwhelming positive feedback on the clinical utility of the app and its impact on people’s lives.