How can physicians better treat adolescent chronic pain? — 5 things to know

Spine

Researchers in the University of Cincinnati's Department of Anthropology, UC College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Emory University School of Medicine conducted a study to help physicians evaluate and better treat children suffering from chronic pain, according to News-Medical.

Researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with pediatric patients to understand patients' perspectives on living with chronic pain.

 

Journal of Pain published the study.

 

Here are five things to know:

 

1. Researchers conducted the study to evaluate National Institutes of Health's Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System pain measures.

 

2. In the study, researchers focused on the kinds of language and vocabulary the children used to describe pain.

 

3. The authors described different categories of pain experience and language the children used when they talked about pain. Researchers aligned these categories with PROMIS categories including:

 

  • Pain behavior - The child indicates he or she becomes irritable or suffers a lack of appetite (or other behavior) when in pain.
  • Pain interference - The child describes slower movement, such as walking, or lack of energy due to pain interference.
  • Pain quality - The child describes pain as sharp, cutting, dull or achy.

 

4. Researchers recommended additions to describing pain behavior including:

 

  • I took breaks
  • I asked for someone to help me
  • I told people I couldn't do things with them
  • I told people I couldn't do my usual chores
  • I tried to think of something nice/fun
  • I went to sleep
  • I had to stop what I was doing
  • I got angry at people

 


5. Based on these results, more research is needed to add to the PROMIS network.

 

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