Incidence and risk factors for care-related pain in children with physical disabilities.
Amandine Dubois, Caroline Hall, Emmanuelle Courtois-Communier and 3 others
PMID 37184414WHAT IT FOUND
Nearly half of children with physical disabilities experienced pain during routine care over five days.
Pain was most frequent in younger children and those with high dependency. Prevention measures were used for only 26.5% of acts, leaving a significant gap in managing care-related pain.
Key findings
0148% of children experienced at least one painful physical act during the five-day and one-night study period.
02Younger age and higher level of dependency were the main personal risk factors for care-related pain.
03Pain prevention methods were used for only 26.5% of all physical acts.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Pain was rated by the same professional who performed the act, which may introduce bias, although a subset of double ratings showed high agreement. The study used proxy reports (staff observation) rather than self-report, which was necessary for younger or non-verbal children but may miss subjective pain experiences. The study only included children in residential or day centers, so results may not apply to those receiving home-based care. Data collection over five days might have led to staff fatigue or less rigorous reporting towards the end of the period.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by grants from the Fondation APICIL, the Fondation Motrice, and the Fondation de France.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that pain is only caused by invasive medical procedures. This study found that routine acts like transfers, dressing, and standing frame use caused significant pain in nearly half the children, yet prevention measures were rarely used.