The image at right is an animated GIF demonstration, not the fully functional version.

In the SAFE, the child causes the face to change expression by pushing the left or right arrow keys until the face matches his/her pain intensity. A keystroke then displays or records a score from 0 to 100.

An evaluation of the SAFE in comparison with five other self-report scales was reported by Goodenough et al. (2005), see below.

The SAFE was used as a tool for development of the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R). The FPS-R is available with instructions in many languages at www.painsourcebook.ca .

Note - This SAFE scale is not to be confused with another SAFE scale (Social Analgesia Function Emotional) - the latter is for clinicians' ratings of outcome of long-tem opioid treatment for persistent pain. Smith HS, Audette J, Witkower A. Playing it "SAFE". J Cancer Pain Sympt Palliation 2005;1(1):3-10.

The SAFE was developed in 1997 by G. David Champion, Carl L. von Baeyer, Belinda Goodenough, and Joseph D.H. Trieu, with the assistance of Robert Kovacs.

For further information, contact carl.vonbaeyer [at] usask.ca or  tiina.jaaniste [at] sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au
Substitute @ for [at] in the e-mail addresses.

A subsequent implementation of a faces scale administered via computer is reported in:

Fanciullo GJ, Cravero JP, Mudge BO, McHugo GJ, Baird JC. Development of a new computer method to assess children’s pain. Pain Medicine 2007:8(S3);S121–S128.

Sources:

Goodenough, B., Champion, G.D., von Baeyer, C.L. & Ziegler, J.B. Facial expression scales for self-report of pain by children: rationale, validity and utility. Fourth International Symposium on Pediatric Pain. Helsinki, Finland. July, 1997 (poster).

Hicks, C.L., von Baeyer, C.L., Spafford, P., van Korlaar, I., & Goodenough, B. The Faces Pain Scale ­ Revised: Toward a common metric in pediatric pain measurement. Pain 2001;93:173-183.

Goodenough, B., Piira, T., von Baeyer, C.L., Chua, K., Wu, E., Trieu, J. & Champion, G.D. . Comparing six self-report measures of pain intensity in children. The Suffering Child 2005;8 (June). Online (PDF).