Which tool is appropriate for assessing pain in a nonverbal preschool child?

• A. Numeric Rating Scale
• B. Wong-Baker FACES scale for adults
• C. A heart rate monitor
• D. FLACC scale

Answer: (D)

Assessing pain in nonverbal preschoolers relies on observable behavior rather than asking them to rate their pain. The FLACC scale does this by evaluating five domains—Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability—with a simple 0–2 score for each, totaling 0–10. This makes it well suited for children who can’t communicate their pain clearly, including preschoolers. In contrast, a Numeric Rating Scale requires the child to quantify pain on a 0–10 scale, which isn’t feasible for nonverbal preschoolers. The Wong-Baker FACES scale for adults isn’t appropriate for young children, and the heart rate monitor only shows physiological arousal, which can be influenced by many factors and doesn’t reliably reflect pain intensity. So the FLACC scale best captures the child’s pain level through observable cues.