Pain in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Pediatrics published research on the characteristics of pain in children with cerebral palsy.  A cross sectional study was completed on 252 youth ages 3-19 years old, their families and their physicians.  The results indicated the following:

• 54.8% reported some pain on the Health Utilities Index 3 
• 24.4% of the caregivers reporting that their child experienced pain that affected some level of activities in the preceding 2 weeks
• 38.7% of the doctors reported pain and identified hip dislocation/subluxation, dystonia, and constipation as the most frequent causes of pain.

The researchers concluded that the potential causes of pain in children with cerebral palsy should be determined and addressed as early as possible to avoid a negative impact on their quality of life.  

Reference:  Melanie Penner et al. Characteristics of Pain in Children and Youth With Cerebral Palsy. Pediatrics peds.2013-0224; published ahead of print July 15, 2013, doi:10.1542/peds.2013-0224

Pain and Cerebral Palsy

A recent study assessed the pain of 153 participants (8 -18 years old). The majority of the children had bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (55%) followed by 38% with unilateral spastic, 6% dyskinetic and 1% ataxic. Gross Motor Function Measures varied from Level I through V with the majority of children in Levels I and II. The results indicated that 62% of the children experienced pain. The only significant predictor of pain was being more than 14 years old. The children reported their pain to be moderate whereas parents reported their pain levels to be higher. Both children and parents stated that pain impacted walking and general activity.

Reference: RAMSTAD, K., JAHNSEN, R., SKJELDAL, O. H. and DISETH, T. H. (2011), Characteristics of recurrent musculoskeletal pain in children with cerebral palsy aged 8 to 18 years. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 53: 1013–1018. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04070.x