AIMS: To investigate parents' ability to perceive pain experienced by their offspring with Down syndrome (DS). METHODS: Data were gathered by the use of the Oral Assessment in Down Syndrome Questionnaire in a cross-sectional survey design in France. A sample of parents of 204 children with DS and 161 of their siblings without DS was accrued. RESULTS: Parental reports of difficulty discerning if their child with DS was in pain did not change with age of the child, remaining at a prevalence of 28% to 32%. Reports of difficulty discerning where that child felt pain diminished with older age from 74% to 27%. The likelihood of parents reporting difficulty discerning if and where their child with DS had pain was greater than for a sibling without DS. However, reports of pain experience for the 2 groups were the same. Moreover, different functional and dysfunctional behavioral variables were found to be predictors of these 2 pain perception variables. CONCLUSION: Parental perception of pain is less discriminant for children with DS than for their siblings without DS.
AIMS: To investigate parents' ability to perceive pain experienced by their offspring with Down syndrome (DS). METHODS: Data were gathered by the use of the Oral Assessment in Down Syndrome Questionnaire in a cross-sectional survey design in France. A sample of parents of 204 children with DS and 161 of their siblings without DS was accrued. RESULTS: Parental reports of difficulty discerning if their child with DS was in pain did not change with age of the child, remaining at a prevalence of 28% to 32%. Reports of difficulty discerning where that child felt pain diminished with older age from 74% to 27%. The likelihood of parents reporting difficulty discerning if and where their child with DS had pain was greater than for a sibling without DS. However, reports of pain experience for the 2 groups were the same. Moreover, different functional and dysfunctional behavioral variables were found to be predictors of these 2 pain perception variables. CONCLUSION: Parental perception of pain is less discriminant for children with DS than for their siblings without DS.
Authors: Anke Hüls; Alberto C S Costa; Mara Dierssen; R Asaad Baksh; Stefania Bargagna; Nicole T Baumer; Ana Claudia Brandão; Angelo Carfi; Maria Carmona-Iragui; Brian Allen Chicoine; Sujay Ghosh; Monica Lakhanpaul; Coral Manso; Miguel-Angel Mayer; Maria Del Carmen Ortega; Diego Real de Asua; Anne-Sophie Rebillat; Lauren Ashley Russell; Giuseppina Sgandurra; Diletta Valentini; Stephanie L Sherman; Andre Strydom Journal: EClinicalMedicine Date: 2021-02-22