Developmental Concepts of Disease and Pain in Pediatric Sickle Cell Patients

We explored whether cognitive development level (CDL) and chronological age were related to sickle-cell disease (SCD) knowledge and pain conceptualization in young children with SCD. We found that CDL was not significantly related to either disease knowledge or pain conceptualization. In contrast, chronological age was significantly related to disease knowledge, but not pain conceptualization. Overall, children had limited knowledge regarding SCD, and pain conceptualizations were consistent with the "transitional" stage of cognitive development. However, several children reported maladaptive thinking patterns regarding SCD-related pain that need to be addressed in future studies.