Revision History

© 2023 Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium, Inc. All rights reserved. 

1 Introduction

This document describes the CDISC implementation of the Comfort Behavior Scale (COMFORT-B SCALE) instrument.

CDISC did not modify this questionnaires, ratings, and scales (QRS) instrument to meet Clinical Data Acquisition Standards Harmonization (CDASH) case report form (CRF) standards.

The representation of data collected for this instrument is based on the Study Data Tabulation Model Implementation Guide (SDTMIG) Clinical Classification (RS) domain model, which can be found on the CDISC website at: https://www.cdisc.org/standards/foundational/sdtmig.

The specific implementation details for this instrument are meant to be used in conjunction with the SDTMIG. All CDISC QRS documentation packages can be found on the CDISC website at: https://www.cdisc.org/standards/foundational/qrs.

The CDISC Intellectual Property Policy can be found on the CDISC website at: https://www.cdisc.org/about/bylaws.

1.1 Representations and Warranties, Limitations of Liability, and Disclaimers

This document is a supplement to the SDTMIG for Human Clinical Trials and is covered under Appendix F of that document, which describes representations, warranties, limitations of liability, and disclaimers. Please see Appendix F of the SDTMIG for a complete version of this material.

CDISC specifies how to structure the data that has been collected in a database, not what should be collected or how to conduct clinical assessments or implement protocols. CDISC disclaims any liability for your use of this material.

2 Copyright Status

Monique van Dijk en Erwin Ista owns the copyright for the COMFORT-B SCALE instrument and has granted CDISC permission to include this supplement in the CDISC inventory of QRS data standards supplements. Hence, CDISC developed RSTESTCD and RSTEST for each item based on the actual text on the instrument.

These materials discuss and/or include one or more of the Comfort Behavior Scale (COMFORT-B SCALE), which are owned exclusively by Monique van Dijk en Erwin Ista. No part of the COMFORT-B SCALE may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of Monique van Dijk en Erwin Ista and payment of any applicable fees. Copyright Monique van Dijk en Erwin Ista. All rights reserved.

The CDISC documentation of this instrument consists of: (1) controlled terminology, (2) standard database structure with examples, and (3) CRF(s) annotated with the CDISC SDTMIG variables with submission values. 

Note: CDISC Controlled Terminology is maintained by National Cancer Institute (NCI) Enterprise Vocabulary Services (EVS). The most recent version should be accessed through the CDISC website at: https://www.cdisc.org/standards/terminology/controlled-terminology.

Reference for the COMFORT-B SCALE:

• Boerlage AA, Ista E, Duivenvoorden HJ, de Wildt SN, Tibboel D, van Dijk M. The COMFORT behaviour scale detects clinically meaningful effects of analgesic and sedative treatment. Eur J Pain. 2015 Apr;19(4):473-9.
• Van Dijk M, Peters JW, van Deventer P, Tibboel D. The COMFORT Behavior Scale: a tool for assessing pain and sedation in infants. Am J Nurs 2005; 105 (1): 33-6.

3 The RS Domain Model

3.1 Assumptions for the RS Domain Model

All assumptions and business rules described in the SDTMIG RS domain are applicable to this supplement. Additional assumptions specific to the Comfort Behavior Scale are listed below.

The Comfort Behavior Scale is a multiple-choice instrument that clinicians may use in peadiatric intensive care units to assess young children's pain and distress. It consists of 6 behavior items, each rated on a 5-point scale describing the different intensities of the behavior in question. Summating the 6 ratings leads to a total score between 6-30, also captured.

1. The scale points include a numeric rating (1-5) and a definition of what is represented by the rating (e.g., 1 = "deeply asleep (eyes closed, no response to changes in the environment)"). For the COMFORT-B SCALE, RSORRES is populated with the text description while the numeric rating is represented in the standardized character and numeric result variables RSSTRESC and RSSTRESN. 

2. Visual analog or numeric rating scales used within a questionnaire with a range of text and numeric values are indicated in the SUPPRS domain with:

   QNAM="RSANTXLO"     QNAM="RSANTXHI"

   QNAM="RSANVLLO"     QNAM="RSANVLHI"
   By storing this information in SUPPRS, it is available for interpretation purposes.  The SDS RS Team is researching alternative methods to handle this data in the future, but until a new method is identified, this will be the recommended approach.
   The low and high anchor text is stored in RSORRES with the numeric values stored in RSSTRESC and RSSTRESN.  All other numeric values are stored in RSORRES, RSSTRESC and RSSTRESN.
   

   
   

3. RSMETHOD is populated with "NUMERICAL RATING SCALE 11-POINT" when RSTESTCD="CBS0109". The NRS is a global pain rating scale (0 ="no pain" and 10 ="worst imaginable pain"). 
4. In addition of the NRS, the level of sedation (NISS="Nurse Interpretation of Sedation Score") is categorized as 1="insufficient sedation", 2="adequate sedation" and 3="oversedation".
5. The RSREPNUM variable is used to indicate the same RSTESTSs are used in trial 1, 2, 3, and 4.

6. Records are created in rs.xpt for every instrument item: 

   1. For items with no data, RSORRES, RSSTRESC, and RSSTRESN are all missing and RSSTAT = "NOT DONE". If the reason is known then that reason is represented in RSREASND (e.g., RSREASND = "PREFER NOT TO ANSWER"). If the reason is unknown, then RSSTAT = "NOT DONE" and RSREASND is missing.

   2. Due to the variability of copyright holder and public domain derived subscore and overall score generation processes, records are not included for derived subscores or overall scores that are not provided.

7. Some items on the COMFORT-B SCALE may be conditionally branched per the instrument instructions. Only Respiratory Ventilation or Crying (RSTESTCD = "CBS0103" or "CBS0104") is completed for each subject. The other will be treated as a conditionally branched item. A record is created in rs.xpt for all items. When an item is considered a conditionally branched item, it is represented as follows:

   1. QNAM = “RSCBRFL”, QLABEL = “Conditional Branched Item Flag“, QVAL = “Y” (this is a RS supplemental qualifier variable related to the record).
   2. RSORRES, RSSTRESC, and RSSTRESN are set to null (missing).

   
   

8. The COMFORT-B SCALE instrument includes a total score that is considered as captured data on the instrument and is not considered as derived in the example below. These scores may be submitted in SDTM or derived in the Analysis Data Model (ADaM) per scoring instructions from Monique van Dijk en Erwin Ista.

   1. Subscores and overall scores are represented in--ORRES, --STRESC, and --STRESN.
   2. If subscores or overall scores are received or derived by the sponsor, it is recommended that they are submitted to SDTM and verified in ADaM whenever feasible. It is the sponsors responsibility to do this verification based on the instrument's user manual or instructions from the copyright owner.

9. Terminology

   1. RSCAT, RSTESTCD, RSTEST values are included in CDISC Controlled Terminology.

   2. A full list of value sets for the result fields is provided in Section 4, SDTM Mapping Strategy.

3.2 Example for the COMFORT-B SCALE RS Domain Model

The COMFORT-B SCALE example below shows the terminology used to implement the instrument in the RS domain. This example shows the data for 1 subject collected at the baseline visit for the COMFORT-B SCALE instrument. The example uses CDISC Controlled Terminology for RSTESTCD, RSTEST, and RSCAT. All original results, matching the CRF item response text, are represented in RSORRES. This result is then represented as a standard numeric score in RSSTRESN and as a standard character representation in RSSTRESC.

The table represents the items from the COMFORT-B SCALE instrument.

4 SDTM Mapping Strategy

This section is used for reference regarding the CRF data capture and to understand the alignment of the instrument to the SDTM RS domain. It also provides guidance on how the result variables (RSORRES, RSSTRESC, and RSSTRESN) should be populated.

RSTESTCD = "CBS0101" RSTEST = "CBS01-Alertness"

RSTESTCD = "CBS0102" RSTEST = "CBS01-Calmness/Agitation"

RSTESTCD = "CBS0103" RSTEST = "CBS01-Respiratory Response"

RSTESTCD = "CBS0104" RSTEST = "CBS01-Crying"

RSTESTCD = "CBS0105" RSTEST = "CBS01-Physical Movement"

RSTESTCD = "CBS0106" RSTEST = "CBS01-Muscle Tone"

RSTESTCD = "CBS0107" RSTEST = "CBS01-Facial Tension"

RSTESTCD = "CBS0110" RSTEST = "CBS01-NISS"

5 Supplemental Qualifier Name Codes

The following table contains additional standard name codes for use in the Supplement Qualifiers for Clinical Classifications (SUPPRS) special purpose dataset.

End of Document