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Pain in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy - a cross-sectional register study of 3545 individuals

Eriksson, Elsa ; Hägglund, Gunnar LU and Alriksson-Schmidt, Ann I. LU (2020) In BMC Neurology 20(1).
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pain is a common problem for individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). In Sweden, 95% of children and adolescents with CP are followed in a national follow-up programme (CPUP), which includes data on pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pain based on age, sex, gross motor function and source of report (self or proxy). Pain intensity, pain site, and how much pain disturbed sleep and daily activities were also studied. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional register study based on all participants in CPUP, 4-18-years of age, with data reported in 2017-2018. Gross motor function was classified using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Logistic regression was used to analyse... (More)

BACKGROUND: Pain is a common problem for individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). In Sweden, 95% of children and adolescents with CP are followed in a national follow-up programme (CPUP), which includes data on pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pain based on age, sex, gross motor function and source of report (self or proxy). Pain intensity, pain site, and how much pain disturbed sleep and daily activities were also studied. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional register study based on all participants in CPUP, 4-18-years of age, with data reported in 2017-2018. Gross motor function was classified using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Logistic regression was used to analyse prevalence of pain and how much pain had disturbed sleep and daily activities in the last four weeks. RESULTS: In total, 3545 participants (2065 boys) were included. The overall prevalence of pain was 44%. Older age and female sex were associated with higher risk of pain with odds ratios of 1.07 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.09) and 1.28 (CI 1.12-1.47), respectively. Pain was most common in the lower extremities. There was no statistically significant difference in prevalence of pain related to source of report. Pain intensity was higher at older ages and higher GMFCS-levels. Hip/thigh pain and abdominal pain were associated with the most intense pain. Of those who reported pain, pain disturbed sleep for 36% and daily activities for 61%. CONCLUSIONS: Both pain frequency and pain intensity were higher at higher age. Pain intensity increased with increasing GMFCS-level. Two-thirds of all children and adolescents with CP reported that their pain disturbed their daily activities, and one-third reported that pain disturbed their sleep.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cerebral palsy, Children, Pain, Pain intensity, Youths
in
BMC Neurology
volume
20
issue
1
article number
15
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85077765630
  • pmid:31926546
ISSN
1471-2377
DOI
10.1186/s12883-019-1597-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6e445931-c90e-47fc-a123-8e465e975a1c
date added to LUP
2020-01-27 09:33:52
date last changed
2024-06-12 07:41:09
@article{6e445931-c90e-47fc-a123-8e465e975a1c,
  abstract     = {{<p>BACKGROUND: Pain is a common problem for individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). In Sweden, 95% of children and adolescents with CP are followed in a national follow-up programme (CPUP), which includes data on pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pain based on age, sex, gross motor function and source of report (self or proxy). Pain intensity, pain site, and how much pain disturbed sleep and daily activities were also studied. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional register study based on all participants in CPUP, 4-18-years of age, with data reported in 2017-2018. Gross motor function was classified using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Logistic regression was used to analyse prevalence of pain and how much pain had disturbed sleep and daily activities in the last four weeks. RESULTS: In total, 3545 participants (2065 boys) were included. The overall prevalence of pain was 44%. Older age and female sex were associated with higher risk of pain with odds ratios of 1.07 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.09) and 1.28 (CI 1.12-1.47), respectively. Pain was most common in the lower extremities. There was no statistically significant difference in prevalence of pain related to source of report. Pain intensity was higher at older ages and higher GMFCS-levels. Hip/thigh pain and abdominal pain were associated with the most intense pain. Of those who reported pain, pain disturbed sleep for 36% and daily activities for 61%. CONCLUSIONS: Both pain frequency and pain intensity were higher at higher age. Pain intensity increased with increasing GMFCS-level. Two-thirds of all children and adolescents with CP reported that their pain disturbed their daily activities, and one-third reported that pain disturbed their sleep.</p>}},
  author       = {{Eriksson, Elsa and Hägglund, Gunnar and Alriksson-Schmidt, Ann I.}},
  issn         = {{1471-2377}},
  keywords     = {{Cerebral palsy; Children; Pain; Pain intensity; Youths}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Neurology}},
  title        = {{Pain in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy - a cross-sectional register study of 3545 individuals}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12883-019-1597-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12883-019-1597-7}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}