Artikel
Prevalence of pain and use of pain medications in children and adolescents : results of an epidemiological study
Schmerzen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen: Prävalenz und Medikamenteneinnahme
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Autoren
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Angela Roth-Isigkeit
- Klinik für Anästhesiologie, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck
| Veröffentlicht: | 16. Oktober 2003 |
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Gliederung
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Background and Aim
At present very little information is available about the prevalence of pain and the use of pain medication in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of pain and the self-reported use of medication because of pain in a randomly selected sample of schoolchildren.
Material and Method
Age specific versions of the Luebeck Pain Screening Questionnaire were distributed to N=933 children or their guardians and adolescents aged from 6-18 years for answering. In children of primary school age, data was obtained indirectly from the parents. For children and youths from the 5th grade, the individuals answered the questionnaire themselves.
Results
751 of the 933 questionnaires were answered (return rate of 80.5%), of which 749 (99.7%) could be included in the evaluation. 622 of the 749 children and adolescents (83%) according to their own or their parents' figures had experienced pain during the preceding three months. The prevalence of pain in more than one body region was 70.6%. The 3 month prevalence of headache was 60.5%, abdominal pain 43.3%, sore throat 35%, limb pain 33.6% and back pain 30.2%. 38.3% of the children and adolescents with pain had suffered it for longer than 6 months. 12.4% of the children and adolescents reported to use often or always medication because of pain, 39,1% reported to use sporadic medications because of pain. 48,5% of the children and adolescents never used medication because of pain. Girls reported more often than boys to use medicaments because of pain. Adolescents reported more often than children up to the age of 11 years to use medicaments because of pain.
Conclusion
12,4% of the children and adolescents with pain in the last three month reported to use regularly medications because of pain. Adolescents and girls reported more often to use medicaments because of pain. The results of this study confirm that the experience of pain in children and adolescents is generally frequent and that in a third of the individuals it had lasted for longer than six months. These results provide further evidence of the public health relevance of pain in children and adolescents.
