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Background: Every fifth person in Europe suffers from chronic pain (Breivik et al. 2006). This number shows the topicality of this subject. For a professional and individual care of patients with chronic pain, it is essential to record the pain with a suitable and validated assessment instrument., Aim: Review of the validity and reliability of the pain questionnaire "Brief Pain Inventory" (BPI), and the applicability of BPI on adults with chronic pain in the acute hospital., Research Question: Which statements can be made regarding the validity and reliability of the assessment instrument "Brief Pain Inventory" which is used in acute hospitals to assess chronic pain in adults who are capable of providing information about themselves?, Method: A systematic literature research in the electronic databases Pubmed, Cochrane, Cinahl, Health Source, PsycInfo, Saphir and Web of Science., Results: The original version and the slighty modified versions of the BPI show good to excellent validity and reliability. This instrument is adapted to measure malignant and nonmalignant chronic pain. It was used in pain and cancer clinics, in acute care hospitals, in family practices and in surveys., Discussion: It is difficult to make a generally valid and scientifically based statement because different researchers have worked with different versions of the BPI, various groups of patients with different diagnoses and in diverse settings., Conclusions: The systematic literature review demonstrates the scientific part of evidence-based nursing, EBN. That means, from a scientific point of view, the BPI is suitable for detecting chronic pain in the acute hospital in adults who are capable of providing information about themselves. Further research about the different BPI modifications, the different types of pain, the use of the instrument in practice and a few quality criteria is recommended.