Abstract
Objective
To determine whether patient-reported measures would be clinically sensitive and useful
for identifying functional change within an intensive chronic pain program setting
by examining 2 patient-reported measures administered as part of physical and occupational
therapy for chronic pain.
Design
A retrospective data analysis of children and adolescents with chronic pain treated
over a single calendar year. Paired t tests evaluated change in perceived function measures and pain over time. Standardized
residual change scores were used in subsequent regression to assess associations between
change scores.
Setting
An interdisciplinary pediatric pain rehabilitation program that supports children
and adolescents with chronic pain by increasing strength, flexibility, and endurance;
facilitating a return to daily life activities; and using appropriate self-directed
coping and pain management skills.
Participants
Children and adolescents (N=109; age range, 8–19y; 83% girls) with various chronic
pain diagnoses who were admitted to a 3- to 4-week intensive pain rehabilitation program.
Interventions
Participants were involved in physical and occupational therapy for 3 hours daily,
as well as recreation therapy, psychology, school, aquatics, art therapy, and music
therapy for a total of 8 hours daily. Parents were involved in parent education with
therapists from all disciplines in conjunction with their child's programming.
Main Outcome Measures
Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS), Upper Extremity Functional Index (UEFI),
and self-reported pain severity rating on 0-to-10 numerical rating scale.
Results
Data demonstrated significant gains in LEFS and UEFI during the program. Improvement
in perceived functioning was significantly correlated with a reduction in pain.
Conclusions
The LEFS and UEFI provide a meaningful way to track progress in chronic pain rehabilitation.
Using self-perceived measures, children and adolescents noted significant functional
improvement, associated with less pain intensity. These findings increase our understanding
of the rehabilitation process and point to goals for clinical improvement.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
LEFS (Lower Extremity Functional Scale), UEFI (Upper Extremity Functional Index)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 14, 2016
Footnotes
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
