Many gaps remain in finding effective, safe, and equitable treatments for children and adolescents with chronic pain and in accessing treatments in different settings. A major goal of the field is to improve assessment of pain and related experience. Valid and reliable patient-reported outcome measures are critical for advancing knowledge of clinical interventions for pediatric chronic pain. Building on the work of the Ped-IMMPACT group, we previously updated a core outcome set (COS) for pediatric chronic pain clinical trials using stakeholder feedback from providers, youth, and parents. The new COS includes 3 mandatory domains: pain severity, pain-related interference with daily living, and adverse events and 4 optional domains: overall well-being, emotional functioning, physical functioning, and sleep quality. The aim of this study was to use a multiphased approach to recommend specific measures for each of the 7 domains identified in our new COS for pediatric chronic pain. We synthesized evidence through conducting the following: (1) a Delphi study of experts to identify candidate measures for the new COS domains, (2) a review phase to gather evidence for measurement properties for candidate measures, and (3) an expert consensus conference to reach agreement on measurement recommendations. Final recommendations included 9 patient-reported measures. Important contextual
considerations are discussed, and guidance is provided regarding strengths and limitations of the recommendations. Implementation of these recommendations may be enhanced by widespread dissemination and ease of access to measurement tools.
Tonya M. Palermo, Rui Li, Kathryn A. Birnie, Geert Crombez, Christopher Eccleston,
Susmita Kashikar-Zuck, Amanda L. Stone, Gary A. Walco
Disease Category: Anaesthesia & pain control, Child health
Disease Name: Chronic pain
Age Range: 0 - 18
Sex: Either
Nature of Intervention: Any
- Clinical experts
- Recommendations for outcome measures (measurement/how)
- Consensus conference
- Delphi process
- Systematic review
Work was conducted in 3 phases: (1) a Delphi study of experts to identify candidate measures, (2) a review phase to gather evidence for measurement properties of the candidate measures, and (3) a consensus conference among our Core-OPPP steering commitee to make final recommendations.