Profile of children with developmental disabilities attending a complex pain clinic of a children's hospital in Australia.
AIM
To document the profile and management of children with developmental disabilities (DD) attending an outpatient complex pain clinic at a Children's Hospital in Sydney, Australia.


METHODS
Children with DD from 2011 to 2014 were identified from a clinic database, and pain relevant data was collected.


RESULTS
A total of 107 (19.6%) of 544 children were identified with DD, and accounted for one-third of clinic attendances. The median age was 14 years (interquartile range: 11-16) and females were slightly over-represented (62, 57.9%). About one-third of children had cerebral palsy (CP) from a variety of prenatal, natal and post-neonatal causes. The lower limb was the most common site for pain in children with CP, while back pain was more frequent in children with other disabilities. Comorbid emotional disorders were significantly associated with the non-CP disabilities. Children who required more than four clinic attendances were more likely to have comorbid anxiety/depression and to be reviewed by multiple specialists.


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term persistent pain in children with DD forms a significant cohort of children requiring tertiary level paediatric pain services. Multisystem comorbidities and emotional disorders predict greater service utilisation. Further research into the effectiveness of multidisciplinary pain teams and interventions in this cohort of children is required.
['Garg|Pankaj|P|', 'Haynes|Natasha|N|', 'De Lima|Jonathan|J|', 'Collins|John J|JJ|']
D000293:Adolescent D001315:Australia D002648:Child D002658:Developmental Disabilities D019988:Disabled Children D005260:Female D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric D006801:Humans D008297:Male D010146:Pain D018710:Pain Clinics D059408:Pain Management D010147:Pain Measurement
children developmental disability disability chronic pain