Brief Report: Cognitive Functioning and Academic Achievement in Children and Adolescents with Chronic Pain

ObjectiveTo examine the patterns of cognitive functioning and academic achievement in children and adolescents with chronic pain attending a tertiary-care interdisciplinary pain service.MethodsThe standardized psychoeducational testing results of 57 children and adolescents with chronic pain aged 818 were retrospectively reviewed.ResultsOn average, participants scored higher in general intelligence, verbal ability, nonverbal reasoning, word reading, and math reasoning than the general population. The level of academic achievement for most participants was consistent with their intellectual ability.ConclusionsIn this clinical sample with complex, disabling pain, the group mean data do not indicate overall cognitive impairment, or a single atypical achievement pattern. Future research will need to look beyond cognitive and achievement scores to explore the links between school functioning and chronic pain in children.