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Evaluation of a psychological treatment package for treating pain in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Insights
Psychological treatments offered modest benefits for children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), reducing self-reported pain and pain behaviors. While immediate effects were small, improvements persisted at 6-month follow-up, particularly in maternal reports.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rheumatology
- Clinical Psychology
- Behavioral Medicine
Background:
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is a chronic condition causing significant pain in children.
- Psychological interventions are increasingly explored to manage chronic pain in pediatric populations.
- Understanding the efficacy of these interventions is crucial for improving patient outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of psychological treatment procedures for children experiencing high pain levels due to JRA.
- To assess the impact of a multi-component psychological intervention on children's pain perception and related behaviors.
Main Methods:
- A multiple baseline across subjects design was employed with two groups: immediate treatment (n=4) and delayed treatment (n=4).
- The six-session intervention included relaxation training, electromyogram (EMG), and thermal biofeedback for children.
- Mothers received training in behavioral techniques for managing physical therapy and school attendance.
Main Results:
- Children showed small reductions in self-reported mean pain and high pain periods (≥25% reduction in 50-62% of participants post-treatment).
- Improvements were sustained and increased at 6-month follow-up (62-88% showing ≥25% pain reduction).
- Maternal reports indicated significant improvements in mean pain and high pain periods for the immediate treatment group compared to the delayed group (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
- Psychological interventions provide modest but significant support for managing pain in children with JRA.
- The treatment demonstrated sustained benefits at follow-up, particularly noted by maternal reports.
- Further research is warranted to optimize psychological strategies for pediatric rheumatic diseases.
Abstract:
We examined the utility of psychological treatment procedures for children with high levels of pain associated with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). By the use of a multiple baseline across subjects design, four children were assigned to an immediate treatment group, and four children to a delayed treatment group. The six-session treatment included relaxation training, electromyogram, and thermal biofeedback for the child; mothers were trained in the use of behavioral techniques for managing physical therapy and school attendance. Visual inspection of the data indicates small changes on children's self-reported pain diary scores for mean pain and ratings of high (greater than 5 on a 10-point visual analogue scale) pain periods, with 50% to 62% showing at least a 25% reduction in pain immediately after treatment, and 62% to 88% showing a 25% reduction by 6-month follow-up. Maternal reports of changes paralleled those of the children. Comparisons of Mann-Whitney U-tests conducted pre- and posttreatment indicated no differences for children's ratings of mean pain or +5 pain ratings between the immediate and delayed treatment groups; greater improvement for the immediate treatment group was noted on maternal reports of both mean pain (p < 0.05) and +5 pain (p < 0.5) ratings. The reduction of pain reports from pretreatment to follow-up was significant for children's mean pain (p = 0.02), +5 pain ratings (p = 0.02), and mother's reports of mean pain (p = 0.03) and +5 pain periods (p = 0.01). Maternal reports of the number of pain-related behaviors that the child exhibited also declined (p < 0.05). No reduction in physical therapist's ratings of pain during evaluation were noted. No increases in maternal reports of child's psychological adjustment problems were reported following treatment. Results provide modest support for the use of psychological interventions with patients with JRA.