Quality of life and academic functioning 6 years after paediatric referral for chronic pain.

Aim: To assess health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and academic functioning in adolescents and young adults 6 years after paediatric referral for chronic pain.

Methods: In 99 children and adolescents with chronic pain (aged 8-17) referred to a paediatric outpatient clinic, pain and psychiatric disorders were assessed between 2000 and 2002. Participants were reassessed after minimal 5 years (aged 13-24).

The course of chronic pain with and without psychiatric disorders: a 6-year follow-up study from childhood to adolescence and young adulthood.

Objective: Psychiatric disorders are common in children with chronic pain, but their course and impact when children grow up are unknown. This study examines the 6-year clinical outcome of children referred for chronic pain with and without comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Method: In 91 children and adolescents (aged 8 to 17 years) referred to a university outpatient clinic for chronic pain, child psychiatric disorders were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-parent version (DISC-P) between 2000 and 2002.

Psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents presenting with unexplained chronic pain: what is the prevalence and clinical relevancy?

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children with unexplained chronic pain (UCP) is high in unselected populations and pain clinics, yet the clinical relevance of these disorders in children referred for unexplained pain is not known. This study assessed the prevalence of clinically relevant psychiatric disorders and their predictors in children referred to a children's hospital for UCP. Psychiatry morbidity was assessed in 134 children, aged 8-17 years, using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-parent version (DISC-P) and the Semi-structured Clinical Interview for Children and Adolescents (SCICA).

Psychiatric morbidity in children with medically unexplained chronic pain: diagnosis from the pediatrician's perspective.

Context: There is very little general evidence to support the clinical management, particularly diagnosis, of medically unexplained chronic pain (UCP) in children.

Objective: We sought to assess in children with UCP if clinical characteristics held important by general pediatricians help to accurately diagnose psychiatric morbidity and, alternatively, if the same can be achieved using dedicated questionnaires.

Methods: We used a cross-sectional diagnostic study in a pediatric outpatient clinic of a university hospital.

Children with unexplained chronic pain: do pediatricians agree regarding the diagnostic approach and presumed primary cause?

Objective: To investigate the opinions of general pediatricians regarding children with unexplained chronic pain (UCP), with respect to the presumed cause of the pain and the optimal diagnostic approach for these children.

Design: Diagnostic follow-up study.

Setting: Outpatient clinic of a university children's hospital.