Caregiver-reported chronic pain among children born preterm.

Abstract

To determine whether preterm birth or low birth weight (LBW) is associated with chronic pain in childhood and whether this association grows weaker at older attained ages. We analyzed data from children ages 0 to 17 years in the 2016 to 2022 National Survey of Children's Health. Caregivers reported prematurity, birth weight, and presence of chronic pain for 1 child per participating household. We classified children born preterm (<37 weeks) based on very low birth weight (VLBW) (<1500 g), LBW (1500-2500 g), and normal birth weight (NBW) (>2500 g), and included a comparator group of term-born NBW children. The study outcome was caregiver-reported chronic pain, which was used as a surrogate measure for child-reported chronic pain. The analysis included 242,575 children (88% term NBW, 6% preterm NBW, 5% preterm LBW, 1% preterm VLBW). On multivariable analysis, among infants attained age younger than 1 year, there were no statistically significant associations between preterm birth or (V) LBW and odds of caregiver-reported chronic pain (P = 0.056, 0.536, and 0.317 for preterm NBW, preterm LBW, and preterm VLBW, respectively). All interactions between attained age and gestational age or birth weight categories were also not statistically significant (interaction P = 0.254, 0.951, and 0.792 for preterm NBW, preterm LBW, and preterm VLBW, respectively), indicating no substantive change in the associations of preterm birth or (V) LBW with odds of chronic pain among older children. We found no evidence that (V) LBW or preterm birth was associated with increased odds of caregiver-reported chronic pain in childhood or adolescence.