Reid, J., Scott, E. M., Calvo, G. et al. 2017. Definitive Glasgow acute pain scale for cats: validation and intervention level. Veterinary Record 180(18), 449.

Previously the authors described the derivation of an intervention level for the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS) short form tool for assessing acute pain in dogs. More recently, the authors reported the validation of a behaviour-based tool (the revised composite measure pain scale (rCMPS)-F) for the assessment of acute pain in cats that was developed using psychometric principles. Construction and clinical testing of the tool supported its validity and provided some evidence for responsiveness, but sensitivity was moderate (misclassification, 26.7 per cent). In order to improve the performance of the tool, a simple three-point facial scale, which in preliminary testing had performed very well in classifying cats in pain, was developed. This communication describes a single, multicentre study designed to (i) validate the combined tool (CMPS-Feline) using a known groups design based on those cats requiring analgesia compared with those that did not according to clinical veterinary impression and (ii) derive an intervention-level score for analgesia for the composite tool, the CMPS-Feline. In total, 45 cats underwent surgical procedures and 74 did not. All cats were scored by a veterinary nurse/technician using the CMPS-Feline and thereafter a veterinary surgeon, blinded to the score responded to the question ‘Do you think this animal requires analgesia? Yes/no’. The total score (from a possible maximum of 20) was computed by summing the answers to all questions. Using the total score from the combined tool, 82.4 per cent of the cats were correctly classified with the intervention level set at 5 and above. From the results, 43 out of 49 (88 per cent) of the cats requiring no analgesia and 55 out of 70 (78.6 per cent) of cats requiring analgesia were correctly identified. In summary, the CMPS-Feline with its embedded facial image component has been shown to be a valid scale for the measurement of acute pain in cats in general veterinary practice with a recommended intervention level of 5 and above (out of a total possible score of 20). The CMPS-Feline displayed increased discriminatory ability over the previously described rCMPS-F.