ABSTRACT
The decision to include a Spanish-speaking sample in a study of pain in children with leukemia necessitated translation of the data collection tools. Therefore, the Adolescent Pediatric Pain Tool (APPT) was translated by using the standard translation, back-translation procedure. The Spanish word list consists of 66 descriptors in the sensory, affective, evaluative, and temporal domains. After initial pilot work with the translated APPT with well children in the Dominican Republic, additional pilot work was conducted in California. Two of these studies were completed with well children and adolescents, and one study that was part of a clinical research project focused on pain in children and adolescents with leukemia. Although content; construct, concurrent validity; and test-retest reliability were tested, further studies are necessary with larger populations of children and adolescents. This series of pilot studies supports the usefulness of the Spanish translation of the APPT word list, particularly for clinical or research situations in which multiple versions of a tool would counteract ease of use.
Subject(s)
Hispanic or Latino , Leukemia/complications , Pain Measurement/methods , Pain/etiology , Translating , Adolescent , California , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Pain/diagnosis , Pilot Projects , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
Relatively little is known about the nature of pain in children with cancer away from the health care setting. Accordingly, this pilot study focused on the pain experience in this group. A purposive sample of 20 children, ages 4 through 16 years, with any type of cancer, was obtained. A semistructured interview including the Poker Chip Tool and Preschool Body Outline (ages 4 to 7 years) or the Adolescent Pediatric Pain Tool (age 8 to 16 years) was administered to all the children once during a clinic appointment. Supplemental parental input was sought during the interview. Two of the children also were contacted every 2 weeks for 3 months. Content analysis indicated that the children experienced pain in a number of locations, most frequently the "stomach", joints, legs, and back. Pain intensity varied widely. The source of pain identified most often was chemotherapy. The most common pain management strategies mentioned were rest/sleep, analgesics, rubbing, distraction, social support, and heat. Clearly, children with cancer away from the health care setting do have pain. Assessment of pain in children with cancer regardless of setting is a necessity.
