Agreement between child self-report and parent-proxy report for functioning in pediatric chronic pain

• Published in: Journal of patient-reported outcomes 2024-08, Vol.8 (1), p.88-7, Article 88
• Main Authors: Hanania, Joan W., George, Jessica Edwards, Rizzo, Christie, Manjourides, Justin, Goldstein, Laura
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Child; Child self-report and parent-proxy report; Child-parent agreement; Children & youth; Chronic pain; Chronic Pain - physiopathology; Chronic Pain - psychology; Coping and adaptation; Female; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Pain Measurement - methods; Pain-related functional disability; Parents - psychology; Patient Reported Outcome Measures; Pediatric chronic pain; Pediatrics; Proxy; Quality of Life Research; Self Report
• ISSN: 2509-8020; 2509-8020
• DOI: 10.1186/s41687-024-00774-0

Purpose Accurate assessment of chronic pain and functional disability in children and adolescents is imperative for guiding pain management interventions. Parents have multifaceted roles in their child’s pain experience and frequently provide parent-proxy reports of pain-related functioning. However, cross-informant variance is often observed with limited understanding of contributing factors. This study aims to examine the degree of alignment between child and parent-proxy reports for Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pain interference domain among children with chronic pain and to identify factors associated with improved child-parent agreement. Methods This study includes a sample of 127 youth (66.1% female) with mixed etiology chronic pain, ranging in age from 8 to 17 (M = 12.24; SD = 1.598), and their parent. Data was collected at an interdisciplinary pediatric pain clinic and online peer support groups. Measures of demographic, pain intensity, and functioning were collected. Results Means of parent-proxy reports were significantly lower than child self-reports on the PROMIS ( p