Chronic pain is usually thought of as a problem affecting adults. But a new study shows that chronic pain is also highly prevalent in children and that more kids today suffer from pain compared with two decades ago.
Researchers in Nova Scotia analyzed data from 41 studies on pain in children published since 1991,which was the last time such an analysis was completed. They found that chronic pain conditions are more common in girls than boys and that pain problems tend to increase with age. Headache is the most common type of chronic pain in kids, with 23% of children age7 to 18 reporting weekly headaches and 5% reporting daily headaches. But abdominal, back and musculoskeletal pain were common, too. Recurrent abdominal pain was reported by 12% of children. And, in two studies that looked at back pain, 21% of the children reported back pain for at least one month.
