title: [Verbal expression of pain in children: intermodal comparison between pain sensation and tactile manipulation].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present study was set in the context of verbal pain expression in children and concerns, more exactly, the qualitative dimension of painful sensations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify the peculiarities of verbal expressions related to the qualitative aspect of pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty patients presenting with pain at a university pediatric hospital were included in the study. Their ages ranged from four to 18 years. The origin of sensorial pain descriptors was confirmed, reflecting the past perceptive experiences of children that are not necessarily painful. These experiences are characterized as prototypes because, although they are related to various contexts of life, their type of interaction with the world does not vary.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In such a context, pinching, tugging, palpitation, squashing and pressing, tingling and squeezing each convey particular sensorial and motor experiences whose basic structure does not change from one situation to another. The results also showed that from four years of age onward, children are able to compare and recognize an analogy between an exclusively tactile experience and their painful sensation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results emphasize the central role of analogical reasoning in the verbal expression of pain, showing that the level of cognitive development is not an a priori determinant variable for qualifying pain.
authors.affiliation: Centre hospitalier universitaire Robert Debre, Paris, France. courriel margaux.bienvenu@rdb.aphp.fr
authors.forename: Margaux
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bienvenu
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jacquet
authors.forename: Marjolaine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Michelutti
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D058748:Pain Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*