Life Care Planning for Pediatric Chronic Pain Patients

The extent of the incidence of chronic pain in children and young adults has only just begun to be appreciated. In adults, the problem is significant, with back pain being one of the leading causes of disability and loss of work time (Spengler, et al., 1986). The problem in the pediatric age group has not been as well defined, but the few population-based studies that have been published suggest that problems such as headaches, abdominal pain, back pain, and extremity pain are very common (Abu-Arafeh, 1996; Borge, 1994; Kristjansdottir, 1997; Salminen, et al., 1995). For example, the prevalence of back pain in the mid-teenage years is almost as high as the prevalence among adults (Burton, et al.,, 1996). Although the etiologies of the pain may be different, the fact that back pain afflicts teenagers almost as often as it does adults seems astonishing