Relationship between pain, disease severity and psychosocial function in patients with juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA).

At their first admission to hospital, 57 children (7-16 yrs) with definite or suspected rheumatic disease were interviewed regarding their perceptions of quality and intensity of pain and disease severity. All children reported pain. This was most often described as 'aching' (74%). The assessments of quality and quantity of pain by the children did not differ between diagnostic, age, or gender groups, or between children with or without previous exposure to other persons with rheumatic diseases. Actual pain intensity was correlated with disease severity assessed by the child and the parent. However, pain intensity was not correlated with a global assessment of disease severity by the physician or the child's psychosocial functioning. These findings may indicate a need for more generally accepted criteria of disease severity and pain assessment in patients with JCA.