Johnson Ensa, Swanepoel Nina, Thunberg Gunilla
Department of Inclusive Education College of Education, University of South Africa Pretoria South Africa.
Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication University of South Africa Pretoria South Africa.
Paediatr Neonatal Pain. 2024 Oct 14;6(4):174-193. doi: 10.1002/pne2.12128. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Children who are hospitalized may sometimes not be able to communicate verbally to self-report their pain or other symptoms due to medical conditions, medical interventions, or communication difficulties. As such, these children may need other means, such as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies, in this case, graphic symbols, to express their pain-related experiences and receive applicable treatment. Choosing suitable graphic symbols to represent pain-related words contributes to the effective use and implementation of visual support. This study explored the preferences of 6.0-9.11-year-old (years; months) children with typical development regarding graphic symbols to represent pain-related words. These symbols were selected from two commonly used and widespread symbol resources: Picture Communication Symbols (PCS®) and Aragonese Portal of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ARASAAC) symbols. A descriptive, quantitative study design was employed, including a total of 30 typically developed South African children. Data were collected by means of an electronic questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Probability values were determined and predictions, as well as inferences, were implemented. The results showed that the children preferred ARASAAC symbols to represent most pain-related words ( < 0.001). It is important to consider stakeholders' (in this case, children's) input on their preferences in designing communication support to enable participation during the clinical decision-making process.
住院儿童有时可能由于医疗状况、医疗干预或沟通困难而无法通过言语自我报告疼痛或其他症状。因此，这些儿童可能需要其他方式，如辅助和替代沟通（AAC）策略，在这种情况下即图形符号，来表达他们与疼痛相关的经历并接受适当的治疗。选择合适的图形符号来表示与疼痛相关的词汇有助于视觉支持的有效使用和实施。本研究探讨了6.0至9.11岁（岁；月）发育正常的儿童对表示与疼痛相关词汇的图形符号的偏好。这些符号选自两种常用且广泛使用的符号资源：图片沟通符号（PCS®）和阿拉贡辅助和替代沟通门户（ARASAAC）符号。采用了描述性定量研究设计，共纳入30名发育正常的南非儿童。通过电子问卷收集数据，并使用描述性和推断性统计进行分析。确定概率值并进行预测和推断。结果表明，儿童更喜欢用ARASAAC符号来表示大多数与疼痛相关的词汇（<0.001）。在设计沟通支持时考虑利益相关者（在这种情况下是儿童）对其偏好的意见，对于在临床决策过程中实现参与非常重要。
