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Volume 7
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10.3390/children7100165
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Article

Something Else Going On? Diagnostic Uncertainty in Children with Chronic Pain and Their Parents

by
Vivek Tanna
1,
Lauren C. Heathcote
1,
Marissa S. Heirich
1,
Gillian Rush
1,
Alexandra Neville
2,3,
Melanie Noel
2,3,4,
Joshua W. Pate
5 and
Laura E. Simons
1,*
1
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
2
Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
3
Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
4
Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
5
Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Chippendale, NSW 2008, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Children 2020, 7(10), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/children7100165
Submission received: 2 September 2020 / Revised: 28 September 2020 / Accepted: 30 September 2020 / Published: 4 October 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Provision and Preparation in the Context of Children’s Pain)
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Abstract

Diagnostic uncertainty, the perceived lack of an accurate explanation of the patient’s health problem, remains relatively unstudied in children. This study examined the prevalence, familial concordance, and correlates of diagnostic uncertainty in children and their parents presenting to a multidisciplinary pain clinic in the United States. One hundred and twenty-six parents and 91 of their children (Mage = 13.93 years, range = 8–18 years) completed a brief three-item measure of diagnostic uncertainty, as well as measures of pain-related distress and functioning. Forty-eight percent of children and 37% of parents believed something else was going on with the child’s pain that doctors had not found out about yet. Across the three items, 66%–77% of children and their parents agreed in their endorsement of diagnostic uncertainty. Parents who believed that something else was going on with their child’s pain had children with higher avoidance of pain-related activities (F = 5.601, p = 0.020) and lower pain willingness (F = 4.782, p = 0.032). Neither parent nor child diagnostic uncertainty was significantly related to the child’s pain-related functioning. Diagnostic uncertainty, particularly in parents, is relevant in the experience of pediatric chronic pain and warrants further investigation as both a risk factor and therapeutic target.
Keywords: diagnostic uncertainty; pain; chronic pain; pediatric; child; parent; fear-avoidance; pain acceptance diagnostic uncertainty; pain; chronic pain; pediatric; child; parent; fear-avoidance; pain acceptance

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tanna, V.; Heathcote, L.C.; Heirich, M.S.; Rush, G.; Neville, A.; Noel, M.; Pate, J.W.; Simons, L.E. Something Else Going On? Diagnostic Uncertainty in Children with Chronic Pain and Their Parents. Children 2020, 7, 165. https://doi.org/10.3390/children7100165

AMA Style

Tanna V, Heathcote LC, Heirich MS, Rush G, Neville A, Noel M, Pate JW, Simons LE. Something Else Going On? Diagnostic Uncertainty in Children with Chronic Pain and Their Parents. Children. 2020; 7(10):165. https://doi.org/10.3390/children7100165

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tanna, Vivek, Lauren C. Heathcote, Marissa S. Heirich, Gillian Rush, Alexandra Neville, Melanie Noel, Joshua W. Pate, and Laura E. Simons. 2020. "Something Else Going On? Diagnostic Uncertainty in Children with Chronic Pain and Their Parents" Children 7, no. 10: 165. https://doi.org/10.3390/children7100165

APA Style

Tanna, V., Heathcote, L. C., Heirich, M. S., Rush, G., Neville, A., Noel, M., Pate, J. W., & Simons, L. E. (2020). Something Else Going On? Diagnostic Uncertainty in Children with Chronic Pain and Their Parents. Children, 7(10), 165. https://doi.org/10.3390/children7100165

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