Social deprivation and paediatric chronic pain referrals in Ireland: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES

Social deprivation is associated with a higher prevalence of chronic pain in children and an under-representation in specialist paediatric chronic pain programs. Our primary objective was to determine if there was a relationship between social deprivation and paediatric chronic pain referrals in Ireland. Secondary objectives included analysing for differences between deprivation groups in pain characteristics and function that are recorded at first clinic visit.

METHODS

Families attending the national paediatric complex pain service in Dublin, Ireland, complete questionnaires on pain characteristics, parental pain catastrophizing, and pain-related disability including sleep quality and school attendance. We retrospectively reviewed records from between February 2016 and November 2019 on 288 patients. Social deprivation was assessed using the Pobal HP Deprivation Index, which is based on data from the Irish national census.

RESULTS

Referrals followed a normal distribution across deprivation grades. Children in the disadvantaged group had a longer duration of pain, greater use of screens at bedtime, and longer sleep onset latency. Parents in the disadvantaged group had significantly higher levels of parental pain catastrophizing.

CONCLUSIONS

In Ireland, while paediatric chronic pain referrals were normally distributed across deprivation group, the disadvantaged group was different in several ways that may be clinically significant. Further work will be needed to determine the longitudinal relationship between these factors before and after the referral and initial review. Screening for, and targeting, potential risk factors for pain chronicity may be needed to harmonize treatment outcomes in children from socially disadvantaged families.