Children still experience pain during hospital stay: a cross-sectional study from four countries in Europe

• Published in: BMC pediatrics 2020-01, Vol.20 (1), p.39-6, Article 39
• Main Authors: Vejzovic, V, Bozic, J, Panova, G, Babajic, M, Bramhagen, A-C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Analgesia; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Child; Child health; Child, Hospitalized; Child, Preschool; Children; Collaboration; Cross-sectional; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Demographic aspects; Europe; Feasibility studies; Female; Forecasts and trends; Health facilities construction; Hospital patients; Hospital stay; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Infant; Information management; Male; Management; Nurses; Pain; Pain - diagnosis; Pain assessment; Pain Management; Pain Measurement; Parents & parenting; Pediatric pain; Pediatrics; Professional ethics; Professionals; Questionnaires; Response rates; Self evaluation; Self Report; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1471-2431; 1471-2431
• DOI: 10.1186/s12887-020-1937-1

Little is known whether children experience pain during hospital stay from the child's own perspective or not. The existing studies tend to be based on a small number of children and therefore have limitations concerning the generalisability of the results. The aim of this study was to describe children's self-reported pain and experience concerning pain management during hospital stay. This study has a quantitative cross-sectional design with descriptive statistics as data analysis. A total of 786 questionnaires, Pain in Children in Hospital, were distributed in four countries with the response rate of 75% which was almost equal between countries. Our result showed that 87% (503/579) children at hospital self-reported pain during the past 24 h. Nearly 63% of the children reported a pain score of > 5 the last 24 h. Most of children reported that they had received a question about pain from the hospital staff, and that the staff observed and assessed their pain. Totally 95% reported that they were satisfied with their pain relief during the last 24 h. Our study showed that when children were given the possibility to self-report pain, nearly 2/3 expressed that they had experienced pain during hospital stay. However, most of them reported satisfaction with pain management and their pain relief.