Abstract
Much of what is thought to be known about chronic pain in the pediatric population has historically been extrapolated from the literature and experience in adults. Before the last several decades of the twentieth century, little research focused on pain and its management in children, and very little scientific effort addressed issues related to pediatric chronic pain. Even now, few studies describe the demographics of chronic pain in children. Investigations to date addressing incidence and prevalence, gender differences, age-dependent onset, regional findings, and other associations with chronic pain in the pediatric population exist largely in the literature of anesthesiology and various mental health disciplines, and are primarily observational in nature. Current science relating to the demographics of chronic pain in children is incomplete: a paucity of sound data continues, and much remains to be learned. (Howard 2003)
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Society for Pain Management Nursing, Herr, K., Coyne, P. J., Key, T., Manworren, R., McCaffery, M., Merkel, S., Pelosi-Kelly, J., & Wild, L. (2006). Pain assessment in the nonverbal patient: Position statement with clinical practice recommendations. Pain Management Nursing, 7(2), 44–52.
Beyer, J.E. (1983). The Oucher: A user’s manual and technical report. © 1983, J.E. Beyer. Image available online: http://www.oucher.org/the_scales.html.
Bhatia, A., Brennan, L., Abrahams, M., & Gilder, F. (2008). Chronic pain in children in the UK: A survey of pain clinicians and general practitioners. Paediatric Anaesthesia, 18(10), 957–966.
Brattberg, G. (1994). The incidence of back pain and headache among Swedish school children. Quality of Life Research, 3(Suppl 1), S27–S31.
Brattberg, G. (2004). Do pain problems in young school children persist into early adulthood? A 13-year follow-up. European Journal of Pain, 8(3), 187–199.
Bursch, B., Walco, G. A., & Zeltzer, L. (1998). Clinical assessment and management of chronic pain and pain-associated disability syndrome. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 19(1), 45–53.
Campo, J. V., Di Lorenzo, C., Bridge, J., Chiappetta, L., Colborn, D. K., Gartner, J. C., Gaffney, P., Kocoshis, S., & Brent, D. (1999). Adult outcomes of recurrent abdominal pain: Preliminary results. Orlando: American Gastroenterological Association.
Campo, J. V., Di Lorenzo, C., Chiappetta, L., Bridge, J., Colborn, D.K., Gartner, J.C., Jr., Gaffney, P., Kocoshis, S., & Brent, D. (2001). Adult outcomes of pediatric recurrent abdominal pain: Do they just grow out of it? Pediatrics, 108(1), E1.
Campo, J. V., Bridge, J., Ehmann, M., Altman, S., Lucas, A., Birmaher, B., Di Lorenzo, C., Iyengar, S., & Brent, D. A. (2004). Recurrent abdominal pain, anxiety, and depression in primary care. Pediatrics, 113(4), 817–824.
Campo, J. V., Bridge, J., Lucas, A., Savorelli, S., Walker, L., Di Lorenzo, C., Iyengar, S., & Brent, D. A. (2007). Physical and emotional health of mothers of youth with functional abdominal pain. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 161(2), 131–137.
Chambers, C. T., Reid, G. J., Craig, K. D., McGrath, P. J., & Finley, G. A. (1998). Agreement between child and parent reports of pain. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 14(4), 336–342.
Chambers, C. T., Giesbrecht, K., Craig, K. D., Bennett, S. M., & Huntsman, E. (1999). A comparison of faces scales for the measurement of pediatric pain: Children’s and parents’ ratings. Pain, 83(1), 25–35.
Chambers, C. T., Craig, K. D., & Bennett, S. M. (2002). The impact of maternal behavior on children’s pain experiences: An experimental analysis. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27(3), 293–301.
Chambers, C. T., Corkum, P. V., & Rusak, B. (2008). The importance of sleep in pediatric chronic pain–a wake-up call for pediatric psychologists. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 33(3), 333–334.
Claar, R. L., & Walker, L. S. (2006). Functional assessment of pediatric pain patients: Psychometric properties of the functional disability inventory. Pain, 121(1–2), 77–84.
Dorn, L. D., Campo, J. C., Thato, S., Dahl, R. E., Lewin, D., Chandra, R., & Di Lorenzo, C. (2003). Psychological comorbidity and stress reactivity in children and adolescents with recurrent abdominal pain and anxiety disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(1), 66–75.
Evans, S., & Keenan, T. R. (2007). Parents with chronic pain: Are children equally affected by fathers as mothers in pain? A pilot study. Journal of Child Health Care, 11(2), 143–157.
Goodman, J. E., & McGrath, P. J. (1991). The epidemiology of pain in children and adolescents: A review. Pain, 46(3), 247–264.
Hakala, P., Rimpelä, A., Salminen, J. J., Virtanen, S. M., & Rimpelä, M. (2002). Back, neck, and shoulder pain in Finnish adolescents: National cross sectional surveys. British Medical Journal, 325(7367), 743.
Harstall, C., & Ospina, M. (2003). How prevalent is chronic pain? Pain: Clinical updates, Volume XI, No. 2, 1–4. Available online: http://www.iasp-pain.org/AM/AMTemplate.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID =7594& TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm.
Hicks, C. L., von Baeyer, C. L., Spafford, P. A., van Korlaar, I., & Goodenough, B. (2001). The faces pain scale-revised: Toward a common metric in pediatric pain measurement. Pain, 93(2), 173–183.
Hicks, C. L., von Baeyer, C. L., & McGrath, P. J. (2006). Online psychological treatment for pediatric recurrent pain: A randomized evaluation. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 31(7), 724–736.
Hotopf, M., Carr, S., Mayou, R., Wadsworth, M., & Wessely, S. (1998). Why do children have chronic abdominal pain, and what happens to them when they grow up? Population based cohort study. British Medical Journal, 316(7139), 1196–1200.
Howard, R. F. (2003). Current status of pain management in children. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 290(18), 2464–2469.
Hunfeld, J. A., Perquin, C. W., Duivenvoorden, H. J., Hazebroek-Kampschreur, A. A., Passchier, J., van Suijlekom-Smit, L. W., & van der Wouden, J. C. (2001). Chronic pain and its impact on quality of life in adolescents and their families. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 26(3), 145–153.
Hunfeld, J. A., Perquin, C. W., Bertina, W., Hazebroek-Kampschreur, A. A., van Suijlekom-Smit, L. W., Koes, B. W., van der Wouden, J. C., & Passchier, J. (2002). Stability of pain parameters and pain-related quality of life in adolescents with persistent pain: A three-year follow-up. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 18(2), 99–106.
Huntley, E. D., Campo, J. V., Dahl, R. E., & Lewin, D. S. (2007). Sleep characteristics of youth with functional abdominal pain and a healthy comparison group. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32(8), 938–949.
IASP Task Force on Taxonomy. (1986). Part III: pain terms, a current list with definitions and notes on usage. In H. Merskey & N. Bogduk (Eds.), Classification of chronic pain (Second Editionth ed., pp. 209–214). Seattle: IASP Press.
Larochette, A. C., Chambers, C. T., & Craig, K. D. (2006). Genuine, suppressed and faked facial expressions of pain in children. Pain, 126(1–3), 64–71.
Long, A. C., Krishnamurthy, V., & Palermo, T. M. (2008). Sleep disturbances in school-age children with chronic pain. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 33(3), 258–268.
Martin, A. L., McGrath, P. A., Brown, S. C., & Katz, J. (2007a). Anxiety sensitivity, fear of pain and pain-related disability in children and adolescents with chronic pain. Pain Research and Management, 12(4), 267–272.
Martin, A. L., McGrath, P. A., Brown, S. C., & Katz, J. (2007b). Children with chronic pain: Impact of sex and age on long-term outcomes. Pain, 128(1–2), 13–19.
McCaffery, M., & Pasero, C. (1999). Pain clinical manual (2nd ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.
McGrath, P. A., de Veber, L. L., & Hearn, M. J. (1985). Multidimensional pain assessment in children. In H. L. Fields, R. Dubner, & F. Cervero (Eds.), Advances in pain research and therapy (Vol. IX). New York: Raven.
McOmber, M. A., & Shulman, R. J. (2008). Pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 23(3), 268–274.
Meldrum, M.L., Tsao, J.C., & Zeltzer, L.K. (2009). “I Can’t Be What I Want to Be”: Children’s narratives of chronic pain experiences and treatment outcomes. Pain Medicine, 10(6), 1018–1034.
Merkel, S., Voepel-Lewis, T., & Malviya, S. (2002). Pain assessment in infants and young children: The FLACC scale. The American Journal of Nursing, 102(10), 55–58.
Merlijn, V. P., Hunfeld, J. A., van der Wouden, J. C., Hazebroek-Kampschreur, A. A., Koes, B. W., & Passchier, J. (2003). Psychosocial factors associated with chronic pain in adolescents. Pain, 101(1–2), 33–43.
Merlijn, V. P., Hunfeld, J. A., van der Wouden, J. C., Hazebroek-Kampschreur, A. A., van Suijlekom-Smit, L. W., Koes, B. W., & Passchier, J. (2005). A cognitive-behavioural program for adolescents with chronic pain-a pilot study. Patient Education and Counseling, 59(2), 126–134.
Merlijn, V. P., Hunfeld, J. A., van der Wouden, J. C., Hazebroek-Kampschreur, A. A., Passchier, J., & Koes, B. W. (2006). Factors related to the quality of life in adolescents with chronic pain. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 22(3), 306–315.
Moon, E. C., Chambers, C. T., Larochette, A. C., Hayton, K., Craig, K. D., & McGrath, P. J. (2008). Sex differences in parent and child pain ratings during an experimental child pain task. Pain Research and Management, 13(3), 225–230.
Mulvaney, S., Lambert, E. W., Garber, J., & Walker, L. S. (2006). Trajectories of symptoms and impairment for pediatric patients with functional abdominal pain: A 5-year longitudinal study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(6), 737–744.
Nader, R., Oberlander, T. F., Chambers, C. T., & Craig, K. D. (2004). Expression of pain in children with autism. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 20(2), 88–97.
Palermo, T. M., & Chambers, C. T. (2005). Parent and family factors in pediatric chronic pain and disability: An integrative approach. Pain, 119(1–3), 1–4.
Palermo, T. M., Toliver-Sokol, M., Fonareva, I., & Koh, J. L. (2007). Objective and subjective assessment of sleep in adolescents with chronic pain compared to healthy adolescents. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 23(9), 812–820.
Passchier, J., Hunfeld, J. A., Jelicic, M., & Verhage, F. (1993). Suggestibility and headache reports in schoolchildren: A problem in epidemiology. Headache, 33(2), 73–75.
PedIMMPACT, McGrath, P. J., Walco, G. A., Turk, D. C., Dworkin, R. H., Brown, M. T., Davidson, K., Eccleston, C., Finley, G. A., Goldschneider, K., Haverkos, L., Hertz, S. H., Ljungman, G., Palermo, T., Rappaport, B. A., Rhodes, T., Schechter, N., Scott, J., Sethna, N., Svensson, O. K., Stinson, J., von Baeyer, C. L., Walker, L., Weisman, S., White, R. E., Zajicek, A., & Zeltzer, L. (2008). Core outcome domains and measures for pediatric acute and chronic/recurrent pain clinical trials: PedIMMPACT recommendations. The Journal of Pain, 9(9), 771–783.
Perquin, C. W., Hazebroek-Kampschreur, A. A., Hunfeld, J. A., Bohnen, A. M., van Suijlekom-Smit, L. W., Passchier, J., & van der Wouden, J. C. (2000). Pain in children and adolescents: A common experience. Pain, 87(1), 51–58.
Perquin, C. W., Hunfeld, J. A., Hazebroek-Kampschreur, A. A., van Suijlekom-Smit, L. W., Passchier, J., Koes, B. W., & van der Wouden, J. C. (2003). The natural course of chronic benign pain in childhood and adolescence: A two-year population-based follow-up study. European Journal of Pain, 7(6), 551–559.
Ramchandani, P.G., Stein, A., Hotopf, M., & Wiles, N.J.: ALSPAC STUDY TEAM. (2006). Early parental and child predictors of recurrent abdominal pain at school age: Results of a large population-based study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(6), 729–736.
Razmus, I., & Wilson, D. (2006). Current trends in the development of sedation/ analgesia scales for the pediatric critical care patient. Pediatric Nursing, 32(5), 435–441.
Roth-Isigkeit, A., Thyen, U., Raspe, H. H., Stöven, H., & Schmucker, P. (2004). Reports of pain among German children and adolescents: An epidemiological study. Acta Paediatrica, 93(2), 258–263.
Roth-Isigkeit, A., Thyen, U., Stöven, H., Schwarzenberger, J., & Schmucker, P. (2005). Pain among children and adolescents: Restrictions in daily living and triggering factors. Pediatrics, 115(2), e152–e162.
Stanford, E. A., Chambers, C. T., & Craig, K. D. (2005). A normative analysis of the development of pain-related vocabulary in children. Pain, 114(1–2), 278–284.
Stanford, E. A., Chambers, C. T., & Craig, K. D. (2006). The role of developmental factors in predicting young children’s use of a self-report scale for pain. Pain, 120(1–2), 16–23.
Stanford, E. A., Chambers, C. T., Biesanz, J. C., & Chen, E. (2008). The frequency, trajectories and predictors of adolescent recurrent pain: A population-based approach. Pain, 138(1), 11–21.
Varni, J. W., Walco, G. A., & Katz, E. R. (1989). A cognitive-behavioral approach to pain associated with pediatric chronic diseases. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 4(4), 238–241.
Vetter, T. R. (2008). A clinical profile of a cohort of patients referred to an anesthesiology-based pediatric chronic pain medicine program. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 106(3), 786–794.
Vetter, T. R., & Heiner, E. J. (1996). Discordance between patient self-reported visual analog scale pain scores and observed pain-related behavior in older children after surgery. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia, 8(5), 371–375.
von Baeyer, C. L., Forsyth, S. J., Stanford, E. A., Watson, M., & Chambers, C. T. (2009). Response biases in preschool children’s ratings of pain in hypothetical situations. European Journal of Pain, 13(2), 209–213.
Walco, G. A., & Dampier, C. D. (1987). Chronic pain in adolescent patients. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 12(2), 215–225.
Walker, L. S., Garber, J., & Greene, J. W. (1991). Somatization symptoms in pediatric abdominal pain patients: Relation to chronicity of abdominal pain and parent somatization. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19(4), 379–394.
Walker, L. S., Garber, J., Van Slyke, D. A., & Greene, J. W. (1995). Long-term health outcomes in patients with recurrent abdominal pain. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 20(2), 233–245.
Weel, S., Merlijn, V., Passchier, J., Koes, B., van der Wouden, J., van Suijlekom-Smit, L., & Hunfeld, J. (2005). Development and psychometric properties of a pain-related problem list for adolescents (PPL). Patient Education and Counseling, 58(2), 209–215.
Zeltzer, L., Bursch, B., & Walco, G. (1997). Pain responsiveness and chronic pain: A psychobiological perspective. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 18(6), 413–422.
Zuckerman, B., Stevenson, J., & Bailey, V. (1987). Stomachaches and headaches in a community sample of preschool children. Pediatrics, 79(5), 677–682.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Richter, H.D., Hays, S.R. (2011). Demographics of Chronic Pain in Children. In: McClain, B., Suresh, S. (eds) Handbook of Pediatric Chronic Pain. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0350-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0350-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0349-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0350-1
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)