What does the Wong-Baker FACES scale measure?

The Wong-Baker FACES scale is specifically designed to measure pain intensity, making it particularly useful in pediatric settings and among nonverbal patients. This scale utilizes a series of faces that depict varying degrees of pain, allowing individuals to express their pain levels through visual cues. Each face corresponds to a specific intensity of pain, providing caregivers and health professionals with an accessible tool to understand how much discomfort a child or a nonverbal patient is experiencing. This approach is particularly valuable because traditional methods of assessing pain may not be applicable or effective for children or those unable to verbally articulate their feelings. The simplicity and effectiveness of this scale make it a widely used instrument in healthcare settings for assessing pain in populations that may struggle with more conventional pain assessment techniques.