title: Parental attitudes regarding analgesic use for children: differences in ethnicity and language.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to identify the impact of ethnicity and language on parental attitudes regarding analgesic use to treat children's pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 206 parents of children undergoing outpatient surgery were recruited to complete the Medication Attitudes Questionnaire, a measure of parental beliefs about using analgesic medications to treat children's pain. Parents were grouped into one of 3 categories according to ethnicity and primary language spoken: English-speaking white, English-speaking Hispanic, and Spanish-speaking Hispanic. Group differences in pain medication attitudes were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After controlling for socioeconomic status, English-speaking Hispanic parents endorsed higher levels of misconceptions about pain medication use, including a tendency to avoid analgesic use for children, compared with English-speaking white and Spanish-speaking Hispanic parents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlights parental characteristics, including ethnicity and language, which may place children at higher risk for undertreatment of acute pain based on misconceptions about analgesic use for children. Specifically, English-speaking Hispanic parents may be most likely to undertreat children's pain at home. Future studies are needed to identify the most appropriate means of providing education to counter parental misconceptions and support optimal pain management of children's pain in the home setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine, USA. mfortier@uci.edu
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.forename: Sarah R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Danielle I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Kain
authors.forename: Edwin T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000700:Analgesics / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003469:Culture; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007223:Infant; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy; D059408:Pain Management / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics