Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Carretera de Valls, 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Chair in Pediatric Pain, Unit for the Study and Treatment of Pain-ALGOS, Department of Psychology, Research Center for Behavior Assessment (CRAMC), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 30;20(3):2484. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032484.
Pain is a common experience among children and adolescents, and pain management in this population is a challenge to clinicians. The aims of this study were to increase our understanding of current practices in the management of both acute and chronic pediatric pain in Spain, explore potential barriers to ideal practices, and identify professional needs as perceived by healthcare professionals. A total of 277 healthcare professionals took part, all of whom had wide experience in managing children and adolescents with pain (M [SD] age = 44.85, [10.73]; 75% women). Participants had to respond to a web-based survey with 50 questions related to pain education, organizational characteristics of their pain programs (including the characteristics of the patients treated), and current practices in the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with pain. Almost all the participants (93%) acknowledged important gaps in their training, and only 47% reported that they had received specific education on the management of pediatric pain during their undergraduate and postgraduate studies. A third (31%) were members of multidisciplinary teams, and almost all (99%) understood that protocols to guide the management of pain in young people were necessary. However, only a few of them used a protocol to assess and treat (56% and 48%, respectively) acute and chronic pain (24% and 23%, respectively). The data also showed that a lack of pain education, coordination of professionals, and guidelines was perceived as an important barrier in the care provided to children and adolescents with pain in Spain. The findings of this study can now be used by healthcare professionals in Spain interested in managing pediatric pain, as well as policymakers concerned to improve the education of professionals and the care given to young people with pain.
疼痛是儿童和青少年常见的经历，因此，对临床医生来说，管理这一人群的疼痛是一个挑战。本研究的目的是增进我们对西班牙管理急性和慢性儿科疼痛的现行实践的理解，探索理想实践的潜在障碍，并确定医疗保健专业人员认为的专业需求。共有 277 名医疗保健专业人员参与了研究，他们都在管理患有疼痛的儿童和青少年方面拥有丰富的经验（M [SD] 年龄=44.85 [10.73]；75%为女性）。参与者必须通过一个基于网络的调查进行回答，该调查包含 50 个与疼痛教育、疼痛项目的组织特征（包括所治疗患者的特征）以及当前评估和治疗儿童和青少年疼痛的实践相关的问题。几乎所有参与者（93%）都承认他们的培训存在重要差距，只有 47%的人报告在本科和研究生学习期间接受过儿童疼痛管理的专门教育。三分之一（31%）的人是多学科团队的成员，几乎所有人（99%）都认为有必要制定指导年轻人疼痛管理的方案。然而，只有少数人使用方案来评估和治疗（分别为 56%和 48%）急性和慢性疼痛（分别为 24%和 23%）。数据还表明，缺乏疼痛教育、专业人员的协调和指南被认为是西班牙为患有疼痛的儿童和青少年提供护理的一个重要障碍。本研究的结果现在可被对管理儿科疼痛感兴趣的西班牙医疗保健专业人员以及关注改善专业人员教育和疼痛青年护理的政策制定者使用。
