intervention in the management of pediatric chronic pain. The present ... of pain were obtained from the FACES Pain Scale-Revised pre- and post-treat- ment.
Abstracts
The Journal of Pain
S93
(468) Feasibility, satisfaction, and efficacy of acupuncture in pediatric pain
(470) Heart rate variability biofeedback therapy for children and adolescents with chronic pain
C John, K Kohl, B Horn, M Kobylecka, and J Gold; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
A Yetwin, K Marks, T Bell, and J Gold; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
In the past 10 years the usage of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) such as acupuncture has increased as a treatment for pediatric chronic pain. Although acupuncture has been used to treat a diverse range of medical conditions, limited research exists on the feasibility of acupuncture as a viable intervention in the management of pediatric chronic pain. The present study investigates the feasibility, satisfaction, and efficacy of acupuncture in a multidisciplinary pain management clinic located in a large, urban medical center. Thirty-eight children (M=15 years, SD=2.39) from low-income families (81% females, 47% Latina/o) participated in 136 acupuncture sessions with an average of three sessions. Children completed a treatment satisfaction survey with scores ranging from 1 ‘‘strongly disagree’’ to 10 ‘‘strongly agree’’ that acupuncture ‘‘is good’’ (M=9.04, SD=1.35), ‘‘helped me feel better/relaxed’’ (M=8.99, SD=1.41), ‘‘helped me feel less anxious" (M=8.86, SD=1.71) and were satisfied with their acupuncturist (M=9.27, SD=1.08). 90% of the children reported that acupuncture decreased their pain and they reported minimal pain (M=1.41, SD=0.75) out of 10, related to the acupuncture treatment. Ratings of pain were obtained from the FACES Pain Scale-Revised pre- and post-treatment. Analyses controlled for 23% of sessions in which participants reported ‘‘0’’ pain intensity at pre-treatment. Children experienced significant improvements in pain intensity (0–10) from pre-(M=3.96) to post-(M=1.33) treatment (t(103)=14.17, p
