Pain in children with cerebral palsy: a cross-sectional multicentre European study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence and associations of self-reported and parent-reported pain in children with cerebral palsy (CP) of all severities.


METHODS
Cross-sectional design using a questionnaire; analysis using ordinal regression. Children aged 8-12 years were randomly selected from population-based registers of children with CP in eight European regions; a further region recruited 75 children from multiple sources. Outcome measures were pain in the previous week among children who could self-report and parents' perception of their child's pain in the previous 4 weeks.


RESULTS
Data on pain were available from 490 children who could self-report and parents of 806 children (those who could and could not self-report). The estimated population prevalence of self-reported pain in the previous week was 60% (95% CI: 54-65%) and that of parent-reported pain in the previous 4 weeks was 73% (95% CI: 69-76%). In self-reporting children, older children reported more pain but pain was not significantly associated with severity of impairment. In parent reports, severity of child impairment, seizures and parental unemployment were associated with more frequent and severe pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Pain in children with CP is common. Clinicians should enquire about pain and consider appropriate physical, therapeutic or psychological management.
Parkinson
K N
KN
Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. kathryn.parkinson@ncl.ac.uk
Gibson
L
L
Dickinson
H O
HO
Colver
A F
AF
D000367:Age Factors; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires