Sensory and affective components of pain as recorded with the Pain-O-Meter (POM) among children with acute and chronic pain.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To explore the usefulness of the Pain-O-Meter sensory and affective words scale (POM-WDS) with regard to whether children aged 6-16 who suffer from chronic and acute pain know the words and what words they chose to describe their pain. METHODS: Sixty-one children participated, mean age 11 y, suffering from acute pain (n=25) and pain associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA, n=36). Children rated their pain intensity on the POM-VAS (visual analogue scale, 0-10 cm). Thereafter, children were asked whether each sensory and affective word on the POM-WDS was known to them, and whether each word described their pain experience. RESULTS: Seventeen out of 23 words were known to at least 70% of the sample. The least recognized word was grinding. Children age 6-16 knew fewer words than the adolescents. Age was a significant determinant for whether the children knew the words grinding (odds ratio (OR) 20.08, p<0.01), gnawing (OR 5.92, p < 0.05), unbearable (OR 8.02, p<0.05), and excruciating (OR 20.17, p<0.001). Terrible (OR 33.3, p<0.05), aching (OR 44.5, p<0.05) and sore (OR 5.4, p<0.05) were selected more often by children with acute pain than with JIA. CONCLUSION: Further studies will be required to determine the suitability of using the POM-WDS with children.