Reports of pain among German children and adolescents: an epidemiological study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pain and characteristics of pain (frequency, duration, intensity) among children and adolescents and to compare them across different age and gender groups. Methods: 735 children and adolescents aged 10–18 y from schools in the Luebeck region of Germany were surveyed using a modified German version of the self‐completion pain questionnaire of Perquin and co‐workers. Results: 715 out of 735 questionnaires (97.3%) were returned completed. Pain during the preceding 3 mo was reported by 85.3% (n= 610) of the respondent children and adolescents. The prevalence of pain increased with age. The most common complaints were headache (65.6%), abdominal pain (47.7%), limb pain (46.4%) and back pain (38.6%). A pain duration of longer than 3 mo was reported by 45.5% (35.4% for longer than 6mo). Pain once a week or more frequently was reported by 33.7% of children and adolescents. Conclusion: Almost half of the surveyed children and adolescents had suffered complaints for longer than 3 mo. The experience of pain in general and especially pain with a duration of longer than 3 mo is very common in children and adolescents, and requires further attention. Further studies are necessary to investigate the natural course, functional implications and prognosis due to pain complaints in children and adolescents.

Schmerzen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland: Prävalenz und Inanspruchnahme medizinischer Leistungen

“…In anderen Studien wurden ebenfalls in Übereinstimmung mit diesem Ergebnis altersabhängige Unterschiede in den Schmerzlokalisationen ermittelt [16,17]. In Übereinstimmung mit den vorliegenden Studienergebnissen wurden insbesondere wiederkehrende Schmerzen auch in anderen Untersuchungen von älteren Kindern häufiger als von jüngeren Kindern berichtet [1,3,14,18].…”

Prevalences of primary headache symptoms at school-entry: a population-based epidemiological survey of preschool children in Germany

“…However, recurrent headache and abdominal pain without organic reasons are the most common pain symptoms in children [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. A high comorbidity between these two aversive syndromes is reported [6,13], which seems to continuously increase over time [2,6,7,14].…”

The Relation Between Anger Coping Strategies, Anger Mood and Somatic Complaints in Children and Adolescents

“…However, seeking medical help does not always provide a solution. Indeed in a large number of cases, sometimes up to 90%, an organic reason cannot adequately account for the frequent and persistent occurrence of somatic symptoms (Compas and Harding Thomsen 1999;Croffie et al 2000;Edwards et al 1994;Roth-Isigkeit et al 2004). The absence of a clearly detectable organic cause has prompted researchers to investigate the role of psychological factors, notably those in the emotional domain .…”