Functional versus organic knee pain in adolescents. A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Developmental Psychology
• Pediatric Healthcare

Background:

• Psychologic factors are recognized in adult orthopaedic patients, particularly those with low back pain.
• Limited research exists on psychologic influences in pediatric orthopaedic conditions like knee pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the significance of nonorganic factors in adolescents with knee pain.
• To evaluate a brief screening protocol for identifying non-organic etiology in pediatric knee pain.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving 28 adolescents presenting with knee pain.
• Administration of the Junior-Senior High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) and collection of other patient data.
• Follow-up assessment after six to eight months.

Main Results:

• Over one-third of adolescent patients exhibited significant psychologic factors linked to knee pain.
• The HSPQ and other individual variables showed limited effectiveness in distinguishing functional from organic pain origins.
• A brief waiting room screening protocol's predictive ability was not definitively established.

Conclusions:

• Psychologic factors are prevalent in adolescents experiencing knee pain.
• Current psychometric tools like the HSPQ may not be sufficient for differentiating functional from organic knee pain in this population.
• Further research is needed to develop effective screening methods for non-organic factors in pediatric orthopaedic knee pain.