Background: Relief of pain and suffering is an important responsibility of nurses caring for children, and intravenous cannula insertions is the most common sources of pain in hospitalized children. Distraction is recommended to help in minimizing the discomfort of painful procedures. The aim of the study is to examine the effects of pressing a…

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of discussing and documenting wishes and preferences for future care. Research about ACP for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) is limited. This study describes what is important for ACP in the palliative phase of people with intellectual disabilities. Method: In-depth interviews were…

In this study, we examine autoethnographic data from three critical incidents as experienced by the first author demonstrating the importance of context in understanding medically unexplained symptoms, their incidence and underlying patterns. We make the case for ethnographies as a crucial research strand in discerning the finer aspects of the…

Venipuncture and other invasive procedures as blood draws, intramuscular injections or heel pricks are the most commonly performed painful procedures in children. These can be a terrifying and painful experience for children and their families. The present study aimed to identify Pain intensity after an ice pack application prior to venipuncture…

We explored the concept of living positively with chronic pain using a mixed-methods design that relied primarily on hermeneutic phenomenology. Ten women described their experiences of developing a positive identity while contending with chronic pain. Throughout their journeys, the women interviewed experienced a number of key themes including:…

Many Americans report chronic and disabling pain, even in the absence of identifiable clinical disorders. We first examine the prevalence of pain in the older U.S. population using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Among 50-59 year females, for example, pain rates ranged from 26 percent for college graduates to 55 percent for those without a…

This study examined two types of potential sources of racial-ethnic disparities in medical care: implicit biases and time pressure. Eighty-one family physicians and general internists responded to a case vignette describing a patient with chest pain. Time pressure was manipulated experimentally. Under high time pressure, but not under low time…

Although many studies have explored emergency services for children, there are few published reports of the utilization of emergency services by children with disabilities. The present study attempts to provide data regarding the utilization of, and factors affecting, emergency department visits by disabled children in Taipei. A general census of…

The prevalence and cost of chronic pain is a major physical and mental health care problem in the United States today. As a result, there has been a recent explosion of research on chronic pain, with significant advances in better understanding its etiology, assessment, and treatment. The purpose of the present article is to provide a review of…

Background: There is debate about a 10% versus 15% of body weight cutoff point for safe weight of school backpacks. Estimation of the cutoff may be affected by use of survey methods and failure to assess pain experienced while wearing a backpack. Previous research also suggests that younger students and females are more at risk for developing…

This descriptive study of 25 patients (ages 3 to 35) with severe/profound mental retardation and self-injurious behavior (SIB) found that 7 patients had previously undiagnosed medical conditions likely to cause pain or discomfort. Six of the seven patients experienced decreased SIB with treatment of their medical conditions. Results support the…

Home health care patients often have several late-life risk factors for suicide and constitute a high risk group for suicidal behaviors. In this study, we examined the characteristics of 14 older adult home health care utilizers who died by suicide and four community controls who used similar services. Both groups of home health care utilizers had…

A survey of 62 third- and 105 fourth-year pharmacy students found a number of misperceptions concerning cancer pain and its management that may translate into inadequate provision of care to future patients. Research on educational strategies to address these misperceptions is recommended. (Author/MSE)

Difficulties in using the double-blind method of evaluation with use of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields led to an open evaluation with 96 patients with musculoskeletal diseases, neurological disorders, circulatory diseases, or gastroenterological diseases. This paper reports the impact of use on dependency, pain, and patient satisfaction. (DB)

Examined discriminative validity of the Parent Rating Scale (PRS) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992, Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services). Two groups were compared: a cohort with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) (n = 49) and children from the BASC-PRS standardization sample (n = 49) matched…