School Functioning and Chronic Pain: A Review of Methods and Measures

Objective School functioning is among the most important life domains impacted by chronic pain. This review provides a summary of the measures currently used by researchers to assess school functioning in children with chronic pain. Methods We conducted a systematic review of the literature on school absenteeism and school functioning in children and adolescents with pain. Searches were restricted to a time frame including January 1985 to December 2010. Results Fifty-three articles are reviewed: all include some form of assessment of school absenteeism or school functioning as part of the study outcome measures. Of the 53 articles, 26 assessed school absenteeism and 27 assessed an aspect of school functioning; 14 of these 27 articles assessed both. Conclusions Understanding the comprehensive impact of pain on school functioning will require improvements in our current assessment methods.