Prevalence of chronic primary pain in pediatric patients. “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga” General Hospital of Mexico

Abstract

Objective: To ascertain the prevalence of chronic primary pain in pediatric patients treated at the “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga” General Hospital of Mexico (HGM) Pain Clinic. Materials and Method: A retrospective, observational and cross-sectional study was conducted on the records of patients aged 2 to 17 years treated at the General Hospital of Mexico Pain Clinic from January 2014 to October 2019, who were classified as patients with chronic primary or secondary pain based on the international classification of diseases (ICD-11). Data was collected and analysed in Excel format with measures of central tendency and Chi Square for non-parametric data using Sigma Plot 14.0 software. Results: An analysis of 184 patients was conducted, 48.4% of which suffered from chronic primary pain (66.3% women and 33.7% men). Chronic head and neck pain is the most prevalent type of pain, affecting 62.9% of the patients, followed by musculoskeletal pain with 23.5%. The primary causes are: chronic migraine (47.2%), chronic tension headache (15.7%) and irritable bowel syndrome (15.7%). The most affected age group is adolescents. Conclusions: Pediatric patients register a prevalence of 48.4% for chronic primary pain, predominantly in adolescent women.

Keywords

• Chronic primary pain. ICD-11. Pediatrics. Prevalence.