Faculty Collaboration Database

Pain in pediatric human immunodeficiency virus infection: incidence and characteristics in a single-institution pilot study. Pediatrics 1996 Sep;98(3 Pt 1):449-52

Date

09/01/1996

Pubmed ID

8784372

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0029814878 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   26 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have multiple complications associated with the disease process. Many of these complications are potentially painful and could affect the patient's quality of life. We examined the incidence and characteristics of the perception of pain in a cohort of families with children with HIV infection.

METHODOLOGY: A questionnaire was developed and validated with a cohort of families with children with cancer. In a survey of families at the Pediatric Branch of the National Cancer Institute, 61 children with HIV infection and their care givers, along with 19 children with cancer and their care givers, were interviewed to determine the incidence and impact of pain.

RESULTS: Fifty-nine percent of the HIV-infected children and 55% of their care givers described pain as a component of their illness that impacted on their lives. Younger children and girls tended to report more pain. There was also a tendency for biological parents to expect and to treat more pain than foster parents, although there was no difference in the incidence of pain that biological and foster parents reported for their children. No differences were found between parents who were HIV positive and those who were not. In addition, no correlations were noted in incidence, expectation, or impact of pain with disease progression or surrogate markers such as CD4 counts. Pain in HIV-infected patients tended to be either in the gastrointestinal tract or limbs and usually responded to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory therapy. The patients with cancer reported an incidence (47%) and impact of pain similar to those of previously reported studies on pediatric patients with cancer.

CONCLUSION: Pain is common among children infected with HIV and can adversely impact on their lives, and its management should be a component of the general care of these patients.

Author List

Hirschfeld S, Moss H, Dragisic K, Smith W, Pizzo PA

Author

Katherine Schoyer MD Associate Professor in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Attitude to Health
Caregivers
Child
Child, Preschool
Cohort Studies
Female
HIV Infections
HIV-1
Humans
Incidence
Male
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
Neoplasms
Pain
Pain Measurement
Pilot Projects
Random Allocation
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States