Back and knee pain send one in seven children and adolescents to their GP each year in the UK, yet doctors have little evidence on how best to treat them. This matters because childhood musculoskeletal pain often persists into adulthood, becoming a leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite this, research on children and adolescents is scarce, and current primary care management relies largely on adult-based guidance. The CAM-Pain programme will analyse a UK database of nearly 1,500 general practices, plus Swedish health records, to map how often children consult for pain, what treatments they receive, and what those consultations cost the NHS. It will also use diaries, storyboard interviews, and clinician focus groups to understand what children, parents, and doctors actually need from pain care. If successful, the programme will produce co-developed information and self-management resources—tested in general practice—that help children understand and manage their own pain. A full roll-out strategy will follow, aiming to shift routine care from reactive prescribing to early, evidence-based support that could reduce the burden of chronic pain across a lifetime.
View original technical description
Background Musculoskeletal pains (e.g. back or knee pain) are common throughout the lifecourse and are a leading cause of disability worldwide. Musculoskeletal pain in childhood/adolescents appears to increase risk of adult musculoskeletal pain, but research among children/adolescents is scarce. Childhood pain episodes are windows-of-opportunity to empower children to learn new information/skills and adopt positive health and pain management behaviours. Intervening early to support children/adolescents to understand and self-manage pain may reduce impacts of, or prevent, musculoskeletal pain in childhood/adolescence and into adulthood. Aim: To improve understanding, self-management, impact and healthcare of musculoskeletal pain in children/adolescents with early episodes of musculoskeletal pain from individual, family, clinician and policymaker perspectives. Workpackage 1. Objectives: Describe the epidemiology, current management and healthcare costs of musculoskeletal pain in children/adolescents in primary care. Methods: Analysis of a UK database of routinely recorded primary care information from nearly 1500 general practices, with confirmatory analysis in the Skåne Health Care Register, Sweden. Determine trends in annual musculoskeletal pain consultation prevalence/incidence (2005-2020). Describe management and outcomes including repeated consultations/prescriptions/referrals. Describe overall prognosis and identify prognostic factors for musculoskeletal outcomes. Estimate healthcare costs per child/adolescent and overall health service costs. Key outputs: Prevalence, incidence, trends, management, prognosis, prognostic factors and healthcare costs for child/adolescent musculoskeletal pain. Workpackage 2. Objectives: Determine views and experiences regarding child/adolescent musculoskeletal pain, pain management, treatment preferences and priorities, information preferences and needs, and important clinical and patient outcomes. Methods: Diary study with stimulated recall interviews exploring children/adolescents understanding and management of pain. Storyboard interviews with children/adolescents and parents to investigating information and treatment preferences, needs and important outcomes. Primary care clinician focus groups exploring advice and information given, addressing concerns, reassurance and management. Key outputs: Views and experiences of primary care musculoskeletal pain management. Workpackage 3. Objectives: Developing and testing information and self-management resources for musculoskeletal pain in children/adolescents. Methods: Synthesise evidence on best-practice management of musculoskeletal pain in children/adolescents. Consensus group meetings to decide the content and format of the resources. Findings from WP1-3 triangulated to develop an evidence-based logic model outlining the content, mechanisms, outcomes and delivery of the resources. Meetings and interviews with children/adolescents, parents and clinicians to co-develop and refine the information and self-management resources. Evaluate use of the information and self-management resources in general practice. Key outputs: Newly developed and evaluated information and self-management resources. Workpackage 4. Objectives: Explore and plan roll-out of the information and self-management resources. Methods: Regular stakeholder group meetings including children/adolescents, parents, clinicians, researchers, and policy makers to identify facilitators and challenges of adopting new knowledge, and strategies for increasing uptake. Examine healthcare professional's perspectives on uptake of the information and self-management resources in general practice, and plan broader roll-out. Refine and finalise a strategy for roll-out of the resources. Key outputs: Full strategy for roll-out of the information and self-management resources. PPIE including children/adolescents and parents is embedded throughout
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know