Chronic pain treatment in children and adolescents: less is good, more is sometimes better

BMC Pediatrics

Table 4 Characteristics at return visit (decliners vs. completers)

	Inpatient treatment decliners (n = 67)				Inpatient treatment completers (n = 309)				Statistics
	Mean	SD	Range	n(%)	Mean	SD	Range	n(%)	Parameter ( t, Chi ²)	p-value	Effect size^§
Days until return visit	88.1	56.7	18–323	67	129.4	47.7	29–313	309	t (374) = 6.203	<.001	d = 0.79
Sex									Chi ²(1) = 0.22	.882	-
Male				21 (31)				94 (30)
Female				46 (69)				215 (70)
Main pain location									Chi ²(3) = 0.998	.802	-
Head				39 (59)				162 (53)
Abdomen				13 (20)				66 (21)
Musculoskeletal				12 (18)				68 (22)
Other				2 (3)				12 (4)
Average pain intensity^$	4.8	2.8	0–10	63	4.4	2.9	0–10	304	t(365) = -1.056	.834	-
Pain-related disability ^#	27.2	9.9	12–47	58	23.9	10.0	12–60	288	t (344) = -2.259	.024	d = 0.33
School absence^&			0–20						U = 9,100; Z = 2.1	.032	r = .12
Low (0–1 day)				41 (71)				226 (78)
Moderate (2–5 days)				12 (21)				36 (13)
High (>5 days)				5 (9)				27 (9)

^§Effect sizes for t-tests = d; for U-Tests = r; and for Chi ²-test = Cramer’s V.
^$Numeric rating scale (NRS) 0–10; 0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain.
^#Paediatric Pain Disability Index (P-PDI, [15], range 12–60.
^&School absence is reported for children aged six years and older.
Boldface data reflect significant differences between the two groups.

ISSN: 1471-2431