The effect domains, measures, and methods reported in pediatric-specialized multidisciplinary outpatient...

Specialized pain rehabilitation is recognized as the treatment of choice for youth with pain-related disability. Appropriate outcomes for program evaluation are critical. This study aimed to summarize the effect domains and methods used to evaluate pediatric-specialized outpatient pain rehabilition programs, map them to the PedIMMPACT statement, and highlight future directions.

An integrated review framework, incorporating stakeholders, was used. Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar were searched for studies published in 1999-2021 featuring the treatment effects of specialized outpatient pain rehabilitation on youth with pain-related disability and their parents. Selected studies were critically appraised using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies of Diverse Design, organized by study characteristics, and analyzed using constant comparison.

From the 1951 potentially relevant titles, 37 studies were selected. Twenty-five effects targeted youth and 24 focused on parents, with a maximum of 15 youth and 11 parent effect domains (median = 5 domains per study). Although most studies measured a combination of effect domains and were inclusive of some recommended in the PedIMMPACT statement, no effect was measured consistently across studies. Youth physical functioning and parent emotional functioning were measured most often. Eighty-five instruments were used to assess youth outcomes and 59 for parents, with self-report questionnaires dominating.

A lack of standardization exists associated with the domains and methods used to evaluate the effects of pediatric-specialized outpatient pain rehabilitation programs, hindering comparisons. Future program evaluations should be founded on their theory, aim, and anticipated outcomes.