title: Pediatric pain prevalence and parents' attitudes at a cancer hospital in Jordan.
abstract: There has been little research on implementation of pediatric pain programs. These studies are part of a project to develop such a program for the King Hussein Cancer Centre in Jordan. Study 1 captured information on pain prevalence in 35 children using chart reviews and parent/child interviews to establish baseline pain burden. Forty-seven percent of children had pain at the time of interview; 11% had "a lot" of pain and only 22% received analgesics. Twenty-two parents were interviewed in Study 2 to identify attitudes toward pain management. Thematic analysis revealed six themes: 1) pain can and should be managed; 2) God's will; 3) parent's worst pain was emotional pain due to child's diagnosis; 4) belief that their presence could ameliorate their child's pain; 5) desire for shared decision making; and 6) the child's responsibility to express pain. These study results were used to inform the action research approach in the overall project.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Pain Management, IWK Health Center, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. paula.forgeron@iwk.nshealth.ca
authors.forename: Paula A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Forgeron
authors.forename: G Allen
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Finley
authors.forename: Maha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arnaout
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence