Abstract
BackgroundThe curriculum for professionals working in paediatric rheumatology should include pain but it is unclear to what extent this currently occurs. The aim of this study was to identify pain-related curriculum content and the context in which pain is presented in educational and training documentation for healthcare professionals in this clinical speciality.MethodsCore curricula documents from UK based professional organisations were identified in partnership with healthcare professionals. Documents were analysed using a summative content analysis approach. Key pain terms were quantified and weighted frequencies were used to explore narrative pain themes. Latent content was interpreted qualitatively to explore the context within which pain terms were positioned.ResultsNine curriculum documents were identified and analysed from doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists specialising in paediatric rheumatology. Pain themes represented a mean percentage of 1.51% of text across all documents. Pain was rarely presented in the context of both inflammatory and non-inflammatory condition types despite being a common feature of each. Musculoskeletal pain was portrayed simply as a ‘somatic’ symptom, rather than as a complex phenomenon involving biological and psychosocial processes. Content around the assessment and management of pain was vague and inexplicit.ConclusionCurrent educational and training documentation in paediatric rheumatology do not include core pain topics. Curricula for these healthcare professionals would benefit from updates in contemporary pain theories and examples of in-context, evidence-based pain practices. This should be a priority starting point for optimising patient pain care in paediatric musculoskeletal healthcare.
Highlights
The curriculum for professionals working in paediatric rheumatology should include pain but it is unclear to what extent this currently occurs
Pain assessment and management are critical components for those effectively working with all children and young people presenting to paediatric rheumatology practices [11,12,13,14]
A core pain curriculum for pain published by The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) [19,20,21] states that education on the multi-dimensionality nature of pain and training in pain assessment and its management should be provided as a minimum to all healthcare professionals
Summary
The curriculum for professionals working in paediatric rheumatology should include pain but it is unclear to what extent this currently occurs. Children and young people are referred to paediatric rheumatology clinics with a wide spectrum of pain conditions and musculoskeletal diseases that have pain as a chief complaint [4,5,6]. Pain assessment and management are critical components for those effectively working with all children and young people presenting to paediatric rheumatology practices [11,12,13,14]. A core pain curriculum for pain published by The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) [19,20,21] states that education on the multi-dimensionality nature of pain and training in pain assessment and its management should be provided as a minimum to all healthcare professionals
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
