Lived Experiences of Adolescents Living With Primary Chronic Pain

Primary chronic pain (PCP), a relatively new classification, characterizes pain that is not a secondary response to an underlying primary condition such as trauma or cancer. This study explored the lived experience of adolescents with a diagnosis of PCP. A qualitative methodology, Interpretative Des...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pain management nursing 2024-02, Vol.25 (1), p.19-26
Main Authors: Mahon, Paula R., Reynolds, Deirdre
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Chronic Pain
Humans
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Primary chronic pain (PCP), a relatively new classification, characterizes pain that is not a secondary response to an underlying primary condition such as trauma or cancer. This study explored the lived experience of adolescents with a diagnosis of PCP. A qualitative methodology, Interpretative Description (ID), was used to guide our study. ID uses a constructivist approach and allows for clinician experience to guide a theoretical scaffold of inquiry, which can be refined as the data collection progresses. We interviewed fifteen adolescents (n = 15) living with PCP. All participants in this sample reported struggling with diagnostic uncertainty, depression, and anxiety. Adding to their distress was the fact that our participants perceived that health care professionals did not believe them when they described their pain and its intensity. While significant research is being conducted on PCP, participants believe there is a lack of knowledge about PCP as a diagnosis and thus there are limited resources and a lack of empathy and understanding for these adolescents.
ISSN:1524-9042
1532-8635
DOI:10.1016/j.pmn.2023.06.006