Children's judgements about pain at age 8–10 years were
examined
comparing two groups
of children who had experienced different exposure to nociceptive procedures
in the neonatal
period: extremely low birthweight (ELBW) [les ]1000 g (N=47) and
full birthweight (FBW)
[ges ]2500 g (N=37). The 24 pictures that comprise the Pediatric
Pain
Inventory, depicting
events in four settings: medical, recreational, daily living, and psychosocial,
were used as the
pain stimuli. The subjects rated pain intensity using the Color Analog
Scale and pain affect
using the Facial Affective Scale. Child IQ and maternal education were
statistically adjusted
in group comparisons. Pain intensity and pain affect related to activities
of daily living and
recreation were significantly higher than psychosocial and medically related
pain on both
scales in both groups of children. Although the two groups of children
did not differ overall
in their perceptions of pain intensity or affect, the ELBW children rated
medical pain
intensity significantly higher than psychosocial pain, unlike the FBW group.
Also, duration
of neonatal intensive care unit stay for the ELBW children was related
to increased pain
affect ratings in recreational and daily living settings. Despite altered
response to pain in the
early years reported by parents, on the whole at 8–10 years of age
ELBW children judged
pain in pictures similarly to their term peers. However, differences were
evident, which
suggests that studies are needed of biobehavioural reactivity to pain beyond
infancy, as well
as research into beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions about pain during
the course of childhood
in formerly ELBW children.