Top 10 Priorities for Pain

Identifying the Top Priorities for Pediatric Chronic Pain Research and Care

Approximately 1 to 3 million Canadian children and teens live with chronic pain. Children with chronic pain and their families are experts on what it’s like to live with pain, but until now, research has not asked what issues they care about most.

Our national Partnering For Pain team engaged hundreds of Canadian youth, families, and pediatric chronic pain clinicians in a rigorous James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership to identify the top research priorities in pediatric chronic pain.

We engaged individuals with lived experience with chronic pain during childhood (youth and adults), family members, and treating healthcare providers across four priority setting stages:

The final identified priorities are a call to action to ensure that future research in pediatric chronic pain focuses on what is most important to people who will use it in their everyday lives.

Play Video

Top 10 patient-oriented research priorities in pediatric chronic pain

What treatments or strategies effectively prevent acute pain from becoming chronic in children and adolescents?
What is the impact of living with chronic pain on children’s and adolescents’ academic performance and educational attainment, and what strategies best support vocational planning for children and adolescents with chronic pain?
What physical and psychological treatments are effective for improving pain and function in children and adolescents with chronic pain (for example, functional outcomes including quality of life, depression, fatigue, sleep, acceptance, concentration, resilience, coping, self-management)?
What strategies improve access and delivery of evidence-based treatments, and coordination of care, for all Canadian children and adolescents with chronic pain, and their families, with a view to reduce disparities?
What strategies effectively increase healthcare providers training, knowledge, recognition, beliefs, attitudes, and communication about the validity and risk of chronic pain with children and adolescents, and its evidence-based treatments?
What strategies effectively increase government and healthcare organization financial support for evidence-based chronic pain care in Canada?
What strategies for educating school personnel about pediatric chronic pain effectively increase their awareness, understanding, and recognition of the validity, impact, and treatment of pediatric chronic pain?
What interventions are effective for managing acute pain flares in children and adolescents with chronic pain?
What is the interaction between chronic pain and mental health symptoms in children and adolescents, and when and how can co-occurring chronic pain and mental health symptoms be most effectively diagnosed and treated?
When are treatments for chronic pain in children and adolescents most effective (for example, after medical investigation is complete, or variation by type of treatment modality, or readiness of child/adolescent or family to engage in treatment)?