title: An examination of child temperament as a predictor of parental post-operative analgesic administration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine children's temperament as a predictor of post-operative analgesics administered by parents after controlling for post-operative pain severity, surgery severity, and parental misconceptions regarding pain medication for children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 286 Spanish- and English-speaking parents of children ages 1-18 (IQR: 3-8) undergoing outpatient elective surgery. Parents completed measures of baseline temperament, parental medication attitudes, and demographics preceding their child's surgery and recorded pain intensity and doses of analgesics administered (nonopioid and opioid) on postoperative days 1, 3, and 7.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pearson product-moment correlations revealed that emotionality was significantly associated with acetaminophen, ibuprofen and hydrocodone and shyness was significantly associated with acetaminophen and hydrocodone. Hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed emotionality as a significant independent predictor of acetaminophen, ibuprofen and hydrocodone administered (F(4, 72)=2.82, F(4, 73)=1.53, F(4, 58)=8.75, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dimensions of children's temperament, specifically emotionality, predict analgesic administration by parents following surgery even after controlling for confounding variables. These findings highlight the need for tailored interventions targeting management of children's pain in the home setting and suggest that both proximal (e.g., pain severity) and distal (e.g., child temperament) factors may be necessary intervention components.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine. Electronic address: szolghad@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Sheeva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zolghadr
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine; Department of Pediatric Psychology, CHOC Children's Hospital, Orange, CA.
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine.
authors.forename: Britanny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winckler
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine.
authors.forename: Zeev N
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Kain
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics
keywords: Analgesia; Pain management; Pediatric pain; Post-operative pain; Surgery; Temperament