Pediatric pain program outcomes: differences and similarities between discrete primary clinical diagnoses of chronic pain

Abstract

Although treatment studies often include multiple types of pain, researchers call for examination of discrete conditions (Palermo, 2012). We hypothesized patients with differing types of pain would show improvement following participation in our pain program. Methods: Adolescents (N=213) in a 3-week interdisciplinary pain program with a diagnosis of generalized pain (GP; N=58), abdominal pain (AP; N=67), or headaches (HP; N=88) were included in the pre/post treatment design. Measures included: Functional Disability Inventory (FDI), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD), and Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-2). Findings: Differences on the FDI, PCS subscales, and self-reported pain level were evident at admission and discharge between conditions (p <.05). All conditions showed significant improvements in FDI, PCS, CESD, and MASC-2 (p <.01) except for PCS Magnification in GP and PCS Helplessness in AP (p > .05). Discussion: Psychological adjustment, functional disability and response to an interdisciplinary pain treatment program differ between youth in discrete conditions. These findings help us understand youth with chronic pain and their response to treatment.