This video was selected as part of the scientific popularization competition “Highlight on the next generation 2020” organized by the QPRN. In this video, students from the Quebec Network of Junior Pain Investigators (QNJPI) present their research project.
1 in 5 children will at some point, suffer from persistent pain. Although the means and knowledge to relieve pain exists, children’s pain is often not recognized, under-treated or even ignored. Similar to adults, persistent pain may affect the quality of life of children and adolescents physically and mentally. Sensory tests have been shown to capture valuable details on an individual’s response and expectation of pain. These tests look at an individual’s sensitivity to touch, pressure, vibration, and temperature to determine alterations in the pain mechanisms of individuals. However, these tests have not been widely used in healthy children and adolescents such that there is limited data for us to compare to with persistent pain patients, especially in musculoskeletal sites. My project aims to recruit healthy young volunteers to undergo sensory tests with the aim to fill the gap in the literature and establish comparative reference values. Furthermore, the participants will be asked to complete questionnaires pertaining to their quality of life. Once this is done, these values can be used as a comparative tool for patients undergoing the same sensory tests and completing the same questionnaires to profile patients with similar psychophysical profiles and optimize their pain management.
