AALAS Webinar - Facial Expression (“Grimace”) Scales and Composite Measures Scales for Pain Assessment of Laboratory Species

This webinar will examine facial expression scales and their use in several laboratory animal species. The psychometric principles underlying scale validation will be reviewed, in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of different pain scales. Practicality is seldom discussed but is an important component in the adoption of pain assessment scales because if a scale cannot be completed quickly without specialized equipment it is unlikely to be used outside a research setting. We will discuss a practical guide to facial expression scales and composite measures scales, using rats and rabbits as examples. We will include an overview of current developments in animal pain assessment and potential future directions for research and practical pain scale use. Presenter: Daniel Pang, BVSc, MSc, PhD, ACVAA, ECVAA Daniel Pang is an Associate Professor of Veterinary Anesthesiology at the University of Calgary (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine) and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal. He is a Diplomate of the European and American Colleges of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia and received his PhD in neuroscience (molecular mechanisms of volatile anaesthetics) from Imperial College, London. Dr. Pang has supervised numerous summer students, internship projects, graduate students and residents. His research interests are in pain assessment, laboratory rodent euthanasia, and patient safety and error reduction. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Pang