A qualitative exploration of the phenomenology of pain in children to inform pain assessment methods

Pain is a common experience associated with healthcare for children, who often recall it as the worst part of hospitalisation. Several factors make assessment of pain more challenging in children. Families have previously identified the development of improved tools to assess pain in children as a key priority. We therefore sough to investigate the nature of this experience from the perspective of children and their parents to inform the development of such tools.

Citation:
Drake-Brockman TFE, Dodd M, Cooney S, Stepanovic B, Sommerfield D, Locke V, Sommerfield A, von Ungern-Sternberg BS. A qualitative exploration of the phenomenology of pain in children to inform pain assessment methods. PLoS ONE. 2025;20(9).

Keywords:
Infant; newborn; pain measurement; methods; diagnosis; psychology; parent; qualitative research

Abstract:
Pain is a common experience associated with healthcare for children, who often recall it as the worst part of hospitalisation. Several factors make assessment of pain more challenging in children. Families have previously identified the development of improved tools to assess pain in children as a key priority. We therefore sough to investigate the nature of this experience from the perspective of children and their parents to inform the development of such tools.