ORCID

Abstract

Pain-measurement tools are often criticized for not addressing the influence of culture and ethnicity on pain. This study examined how children who speak English as a primary or additional language discuss pain. Two methods were used in six focus group interviews with 34 children aged 4-7 years: (i) use of drawings from the Pediatric Pain Inventory to capture the language used by children to describe pain; and (ii) observation of the children's placing of pain drawings on red/amber/green paper to denote perceived severity of pain. The findings demonstrated that children with English as an additional language used less elaborate language when talking about pain, but tended to talk about the pictures prior to deciding where they should be placed. For these children, there was a positive significant relationship between language, age, and length of stay in the UK. The children's placement of pain drawings varied according to language background, sex, and age. The findings emphasize the need for sufficient time to assess pain adequately in children who do not speak English as a first language.

DOI

10.1111/nhs.12084

Publication Date

2014-06-01

Publication Title

Nurs Health Sci

Volume

16

Issue

2

Organisational Unit

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Keywords

English as an additional language, Pediatric Pain Inventory, children, language, narrative analysis, pain, pain measurement, Arabs, Attitude to Health, Child, Preschool, Communication Barriers, Cultural Characteristics, Female, Focus Groups, Humans, Language, Male, Middle East, Pain, Pain Perception, Severity of Illness Index, Sex Factors, United Kingdom, White People

First Page

186

Last Page

192

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