The Impact of Chronic Pain in Adolescence

Background: Chronic pain is prevalent among adolescents and negatively influences their quality of life. Furthermore, it may persist into adulthood. Multidisciplinary outpatient and intensive inpatient treatment has been shown to improve pain intensity and disability at this developmental stage.

Objectives:

1. To describe the inpatient and outpatient characteristics of an adolescent cohort with chronic pain,
2. To explore their past and present pain management programmes,
3. To highlight the impact of chronic pain at this developmental stage.

Methods: Data for this retrospective cohort (aged 12-19) study were obtained from the University Hospital Limerick Integrated Patient Management System (IPMS) and patient medical records were hand searched for the relevant information. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22.

Results: A total of 21 patients (71% female) with chronic pain were identified from January 2016 through to February 2017. The mean age of these adolescent patients were 15.7 years. One of the most common presenting complaints and principal diagnoses was lower back pain. Comorbid diagnoses were common. Past and present pain management programmes included: assessment; therapeutic interview; education/self-management; exercise/physiotherapy/rehabilitation; pharmacology; psychology; pain intervention procedure and review. Chronic pain had a negative impact on patients general activities (notably school going), their enjoyment of life, mood; sleep and relationships.

Conclusion: Chronic pain is more prevalent in female adolescents and is complicated by a wide variety of comorbid conditions. These findings are consistent with recent literature. Different types of treatment example medical and psychological were used in the management of chronic pain in this adolescent cohort. This is in accordance with the biopsychosocial model which states that pain is caused by a complex interaction between biological, psychological and social variables.