Palliative care referral criteria and application in pediatric illness care: A scoping review.

Background: Specialty pediatric palliative care services can help to address unmet care needs for children with complex and serious illness. Current guidelines support the identification of unmet palliative care needs; however, it is unknown how these guidelines or other clinical characteristics influence pediatric palliative care referral in research and practice.

Aim: To evaluate the identification and application of palliative care referral criteria in pediatric illness care and research.

Informing Parents as Caregivers With a Symptom Assessment App Developed for Children With Cancer.

Mobile health technologies can assist children to communicate their symptom experiences in a developmentally appropriate format. However, few investigations have examined how mHealth resources may also assist parents in their caregiver role. The purpose of this study was to explore how a symptom assessment app designed for school-age children with cancer could further inform parents as caregivers.

Symptoms and daily experiences reported by children with cancer using a game-based app.

Purpose: Mobile health (mHealth) resources, including apps, are emerging as resources to support children in tracking symptoms and other health-related data. The purpose of this study was to describe symptoms and daily experiences reported by elementary school-age children receiving treatment for cancer using the newly developed Color Me Healthy app.

Design And Methods: Participants in this descriptive study were children 6-12 years of age, who were receiving cancer treatment at a free-standing children's hospital in the Intermountain West of the United States.

A Role for Global DNA Methylation Level and Expression in the Transition From Acute to Chronic Low Back Pain.

The transition from acute low back pain (aLBP) to chronic LBP (cLBP) results from a variety of factors, including epigenetic modifications of DNA. The aim of this study was to (1) compare global DNA (gDNA) methylation and histone acetylation at LBP onset between the aLBP and cLBP participants, (2) compare mRNA expression of genes with known roles in the transduction, maintenance, and/or modulation of pain between the aLBP and cLBP participants, (3) compare somatosensory function and pain ratings in our participants, and (4) determine if the aforementioned measurements were associated. A total of 220 participants were recruited for this prospective observational study following recent onset of an episode of LBP.

Communication of pain by school-age children with cancer using a game-based symptom assessment app: A secondary analysis.

Purpose: To evaluate the self-reported pain experiences of school-age children with cancer participating in a feasibility trial of a game-based symptom assessment app.

Method: Nineteen children (median: 8 years, range 6-12 years old) receiving cancer treatment were recruited to complete five days of symptom tracking between clinical visits using a symptom assessment app. Children could report pain as a general symptom with the ability to further localize pain on an avatar.

Investigating key predictors of persistent low back pain: A focus on psychological stress.

Aim: To investigate the degree to which psychological stress, self-reported pain scores, and pain sensitivity during an acute state of low back pain (LBP) predict the development of persistent LBP trajectories.

Background: Identifying which factors influence LBP trajectories is critical to understand why some individuals experience persistent LBP and to illuminate areas for nursing intervention.

Methods: A secondary data analysis of a prospective study examining trajectories of LBP was conducted.

A Systematic Review of Biological Mechanisms and Chronic Pain Outcomes During Stress Reduction Interventions.

Background: Nonpharmacologic stress reduction interventions provide an opportunity to modify chronic pain trajectories; however, the biological mechanisms underlying these interventions are poorly understood.

Objectives: To examine clinical literature published in 2012-2018 with the goals of (1) identifying which biological mechanisms or biomarkers are currently being measured in nonpharmacologic stress reduction intervention studies for individuals with chronic pain and (2) evaluating the evidence to determine whether these stress reduction interventions lead to changes in (a) pain outcomes and/or (b) measured biomarkers.

Data Sources: Scientific articles in the electronic databases PubMed/Medline, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsychINFO, and SCOPUS following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines.