Perception of pain in patients with adolescent cerebral palsy: self report or parent's report.

Purpose: To compare mothers' report on children's pain with patients' own reports and to explore the prevalence, intensity, localisation and the effect of pain on daily living activities of adolescents with CP.

Materials and methods: A total of 75 adolescent with CP (34 females and 41 males) and their mothers were included in this cross-sectional study. Demographical and clinical characteristics were recorded. The adolescent and the mother independently completed the pain questionnaire in a face-to-face interview administrated by a physiatrist.

Results: The prevalance of pain in the previous week was 28% by self report and was 40% by mothers' report. No significant difference was determined between mother's report and self report (p = 0.121). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of pain, pain intensity, and the effect of pain on activities of daily living according to Gross Motor Functional Classification System levels and CP types in terms of mothers' report and self report.

Conclusions: Pain is a common condition in adolescents with CP and it affects quality of life negatively. While the self-report of pain is ideal, parent's reports in various situations is important for the assessment of pain.