Journal of psychosomatic research
-
The purpose of this study was to collate all works relating to delirium and probable delirium in children and adolescents published since 1980. ⋯ Delirium is an important but neglected disorder of childhood associated with significant morbidity and high mortality. Current clinical practice for management is based on slim empirical evidence.
-
Verbal information that a painkiller has been administered generates an expectation of pain relief which in turn decreases pain. This expectation-based pain reduction is termed placebo analgesia. We hypothesized that fear of pain would be related to higher stress and pain intensity and to reduced placebo analgesia. ⋯ Fear of pain was positively related to stress both during pain and in the anticipation of pain, and negatively related to placebo analgesia. Previous research has indicated a role for increased stress in the nocebo response, and the present findings suggest that decreased stress may strengthen the placebo response.
-
Acute and chronic pain is a common experience in children and youth. A thorough assessment is fundamental to understand this experience and to assess and monitor treatment responses. The intensity of pain is the parameter most commonly assessed. ⋯ Amongst the several types of pediatric pain measures, self-report, when available, is regarded as the primary source of information about pain intensity, to be complemented by observation and knowledge of the context. There is a large number of self-report measures of pediatric pain intensity; and there is some agreement that professionals in the clinical and research practice should assess pain intensity using the Pieces of Hurt Tool, the Faces Pain Scale, the Oucher, or Visual Analogue Scales because these measures have shown to have sound psychometric properties and clinical utility. Despite the increased number of age-appropriate self-report measures of pediatric pain intensity over the last years, we report several research gaps and priorities of future research.