1. de Inocencio J: Musculoskeletal pain in primary pediatric care: analysis of 1000 consecutive general pediatric clinic visits. Pediatrics 1998, 102:E63.
2. Rekola KE, Levoska S, Takala J, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi S: Patients with neck and shoulder complaints and multisite musculoskeletal symptoms: a prospective study. J Rheumatol 1997, 24:2424–2428.
3. Smedbraten BK, Natvig B, Rutle O, Bruusgaard D: Self-reported bodily pain in schoolchildren. Scand J Rheumatol 1998, 27:273–276. This large, cross-sectional study investigated 569 children in three age groups (10, 13, and 15 years old). They found girls not only reported more body parts as painful (specifically more headache, neck pain and shoulder pain, especially as they became older), but girls were more affected by their pain; girls more frequently endorsed the statement "sometimes it’s hard to concentrate," whereas boys more often endorsed the statement "I feel pain, but I don’t care." Regarding health services utilization, 65% of these children reported seeking services because of the pain, 26% used medication, but only 15% missed school.
4. Zitting P, Vanharanta H: Why do we need more information about the risk factors of the musculoskeletal pain disorders in childhood and adolescence? Int J Circumpolar Health 1998, 57:148–155.
5. Kuis W, Heijnen CJ, Hogeweg JA, et al.: How painful is juvenile chronic arthritis? Arch Dis Child 1997, 77:451–453. This is a concise review of pain mechanisms as they apply to children with chronic arthritis, as well as a review of the clinical literature of pain in these children.