Pain and its effects on quality of life - Book Report/Review Example

The article that has been chosen for discussion is "Chronic Pain and Its Impact on Quality of Life in Adolescents and Their Families" by Hunfeld, Perkin, Duivenvoorden et al published in Journal of Pediatric Psychology. This particular study evaluated the impact of chronic pain, which is not related to somatic pain, on the quality of life of adolescents and their families. The study was performed on adolescence between 12- 18 years of age who suffered from chronic pain. The method of research that was employed in order to gather the necessary information was an assessment that was done by asking them to maintain a diary and complete a questionnaire on quality of life.

According to the article, data was compiled from five major pain clinics, and the pain that these adolescence were contending with was noncancerous in origin. These individuals experienced pain in their backs, muscles, and they had chronic headaches (Hunfeld, Perkin, Duivenvoorden et al, 2001). The information that was gathered from their answers to the questionnaire that was given to them, and from the diary entries that they kept was in line with the main hypothesis that chronic pain has a negative impact on the quality of life in terms of psychological functioning, physical status and functional status.

Chronic pain also has an impact on family life and social life.From this study, it is evident that the most prevalent pains amongst youngsters are limb pain, headache, abdominal, and back pain. The pain mainly increases during day time and subsides after sleep. The highest intensity of pain occurs during night time. When a person has pain and then the pain worsens, this is referred to as breakthrough pain (Hunfeld, Perkin, Duivenvoorden et al, 2001). This is the type of pain experienced by all groups who participated in the study.

Interesting and important points that can be found in this article are that the fact that non-somatic chronic pain is more frequent among girls and the fact that pain increases during day time (Hunfeld, Perkin, Duivenvoorden et al). This article is a reliable source of information pertaining to the impact of pain on the quality of life for a number of reasons. For one, the groups were studied extensively, as not only did they keep diary entries concerning the experiences with pain, they were asked to fill out an extensive questionnaire.

Secondly, five different groups were studied, and all of the results from these groups were studied and compared in order to formulate their findings. Findings across all groups were consistent, which then enabled researchers to draw the conclusions about adolescence and pain.ReferencesHunfeld, J.A.M., Perquin, C.W., Duivenvoorden, H.J. et al (2001). Chronic Pain and Its Impact on Quality of Life in Adolescents and Their Families. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 26(3) 145-153.