Chronic pain in children and adolescents: a review.
Chronic pain in children has been increasing in prevalence and studies have provided evidence that it impacts the functional/physical aspects of the children's life and their psychological and emotional well-being. Family caregivers of children and adolescents with chronic pain suffer a great sense of burden affecting their emotional, social, and family functioning. The problem is also exacerbated by the additional financial burden secondary to increased physician consultation and medication use. A better understanding of pain in children is needed in order to gain insight in the etiology. The aim of the following article is to provide a review of the literature on the prevalence of chronic pain in children and adolescents and the factors associated with it.
Huijer
Huda Abu-Saad
HA
Faculty of Medicine, School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Lebanon. hh35@aub.edu.lb
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005195:Family Relations; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008603:Mental Health; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D059408:Pain Management; D015995:Prevalence; D014857:Warfare