A summary of pain and pain-related variables in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Background

To study pain, data on pain characteristics, possible triggers and consequences - such as the impact of pain on people's lives - need to be available. When not collated, described and/or organised in a systematic manner, it can be difficult to assess how useful an existing dataset may be for one's project. This data note describes and categorises the complex and multi-modal indices of pain available in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Methods

Data from two generations of the ALSPAC cohort; index child participants (Generation 1, G1), their mothers and fathers/mothers' partners (Generation 0, G0) were used. Search terms such as 'pain', 'ache', 'hurt', 'sore', specific pain conditions, labour pain and methods of pain relief were used to identify pain and pain-related variables. These data were extracted from all waves of data collection. We developed pain categories and subsequently categorised variables in an iterative process. Repeated measurements of the same variables over waves of data collection were also identified.

Results

We identified 21 categories of pain variables, which were subsequently grouped into themes: pain characteristics, extended pain characteristics and causes, treatment for pain, pain interference and pain-related to specific events. Pain and pain-related data have been collected from G1 participants, G0 mothers, and G0 partners, although there are fewer data for the partners. There were some repeated measurements, most commonly, of pain location. As is typical with longitudinal birth cohort studies, maternal proxy-reports were used during participants' younger years and self-reports were utilised from adolescence onwards.

Conclusions

Researchers interested in studying pain can feasibly do so in two generations of a regional UK population who have been followed up over 30 years. ALSPAC can be used to study pain from the early years through to young adulthood and in mothers from the perinatal period onwards.

Researchers sometimes use existing datasets to study pain. Data may be available on different aspects of pain. For example, the intensity of pain, which part(s) of the body hurt, possible causes of pain and how pain may affect the individual’s life. These existing datasets typically come from studies relating to health and wellbeing that were set up many years ago, often from birth, and may still be active. Researchers can apply to use data from these studies to answer health-related research questions. Although these data are available, researchers may not know how useful data from existing health-related studies may be for a new project that is being planned. Looking at a data note on a specific health topic is valuable to researchers as relevant data have been collated and organised to make it easier to see what data already exists. In this data note, the authors have collated and organised data on pain from an existing study called the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). ALSPAC was set up in the early 1990s to study health and development. ALSPAC was not specifically set up to study pain. The authors found that there was a wealth of information and questions asked about pain that could be organised into 21 pain categories. The data from these questions is described in this data note and comes from the original children recruited into the study, their mothers and their fathers/mothers’ partners. The authors also found that some pain related data were collected in the same way at multiple time points (e.g. across a number of years or months) allowing researchers to look at patterns over time. Researchers interested in studying pain can use data from ALSPAC, which has data collected on two generations of a regional UK population for more than 30 years.

Informations de copyright

Copyright: © 2024 Ly A et al.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: Anthony E. Pickering declares industry funding for unrelated studies from Eli Lily and consultancy work (also unrelated) for Lateral Pharma. Edmund Keogh reports unrelated consultancy services via the University of Bath to Reckitt Benckiser Health Limited. All other co-authors declare no competing interests to disclose.