Systematic Review: Pain and Emotional Functioning in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease.

The objective of this systematic review was to assess the relationship between pain (frequency/intensity/duration, impairment, coping) and emotional functioning in pediatric Sickle Cell Disease, and evaluate the state of the literature. Studies were included if they met each of the following criteria: (a) primarily pediatric sample of youth or young adults up to age 21 years with SCD, (b) examined emotional functioning including anxiety and/or depressive and/or internalizing symptoms, and/or affect, (c) examined pain intensity/frequency/duration and/or pain-related impairment and/or pain coping as it relates to emotional functioning, as defined above. Using the established guidelines for systematic reviews, we searched PsycINFO, PubMED, and CINAHL databases for studies published through June 2018.