A qualitative study of the at-home pain experience for children with an arm fracture

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Emergency Medicine
• Pain Management
• Child Psychology

Background:

• Most children with painful conditions are discharged from the emergency department (ED) to parental care.
• Evidence suggests that at-home pain management for children is often inadequate.
• The child's perspective on their at-home pain experience has not been previously studied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the child's perspective on their pain experience at home after discharge from the emergency department.
• To identify barriers to effective at-home pain management from the child's viewpoint.

Main Methods:

• Semistructured interviews were conducted with children aged 4 to 14 years with arm fractures.
• Interviews took place in the child's home.
• Narrative analysis was used to identify themes in the transcribed interviews.

Main Results:

• Thirty children were interviewed, revealing three key themes.
• Theme 1: Communication issues between children and parents regarding pain management.
• Theme 2: Communication challenges between children and ED healthcare personnel.
• Theme 3: Children's misunderstandings about pain and pain medication.

Conclusions:

• Communication barriers significantly impact the at-home pain experience for children.
• Findings highlight the need for interventions targeting both children and parents to improve pain management.
• This research provides novel insights into optimizing pediatric pain care post-ED discharge.