title: Improving the assessment of pediatric chronic pain: harnessing the potential of electronic diaries.
abstract: Current methods for evaluating chronic pain in children suffer from methodological problems. Real-time data capture approaches using electronic diaries have been proposed as a new standard for pain measurement. However, there is limited information available regarding the development, feasibility and validity of these approaches in children. The present paper reviews problems with current measures; rationale for developing real-time data capture approaches using electronic diaries; mechanics of developing electronic pain diaries; current evidence regarding their usability, feasibility and validity; and discusses future directions for research in this area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, and Lawrence S Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. jennifer.stinson@sickkids.ca
authors.forename: Jennifer N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Stinson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results