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. 2023 Jan 16;8(1):e1060.
doi: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000001060. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Chronic pain concepts of pediatricians: a qualitative survey

Cosima Locher  1   2 , Andreas Wörner  3   4 , Maria Carlander  5   6 , Joe Kossowsky  7 , Julia Dratva  4   8 , Helen Koechlin  7   9   10
Affiliations

Chronic pain concepts of pediatricians: a qualitative survey

Cosima Locher et al. Pain Rep. .

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic pain is a prevalent, yet underrecognized, condition in children and adolescents. A biopsychosocial framework has been widely adopted over the past decades and resulted in a new pain classification in the International Classification of Diseases, 11th revision (ICD-11). Nevertheless, little is known about pediatricians' pain concepts.

Objectives: We explored pain concepts of Swiss pediatricians by means of a qualitative analysis.

Method: A cross-sectional online survey was sent to clinically active Swiss pediatricians registered with the Swiss Society for Pediatrics. A case vignette of a girl with chronic musculoskeletal pain was presented and pediatricians were asked (1) what they think caused the pain, and (2) how they would explain the pain to the patient and their family. Structuring content analysis was applied to describe major themes within the answers.

Results: The following main categories emerged: psychological factors, biological factors, unclear etiology, social context, disorder specific, and multifactorial. Most pediatricians reported the belief that psychological factors explained the pain. However, when explaining the pain to the patient, biological factors were reported most often.

Conclusion: There is a discrepancy between pediatricians' conviction that chronic pain is mostly explained by psychological factors and their exploratory model towards patients that focuses on biological factors. Promoting the biopsychosocial framework of chronic pain is key to ensure timely and effective treatment. The new pain classification in the ICD-11 has the potential to increase the use of the biopsychosocial model.

Keywords: Biopsychosocial framework; Children and adolescents; Chronic pain; Pain concepts; Pediatricians; Qualitative analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Visual comparison of main categories across the 2 questions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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