Table 1.
Summary of Reviewed Articles
| Ref # | First Author/Year | Design/Control Group | N/Population | Intervention/Delivered by | Pain measures | Statistical Significance (Pain) | Pain Outcomes (note: x(x) = mean(SD)) | Study Quality (Scored 0–18; 0=worst and 18= best) | Effect Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill-based (physical) | |||||||||
| 27 | Lemanek, 2009 | RCT / massage vs attention control | 34, Children (parent dyad) | Massage (with parents) / massage therapist (licensed) | Pediatric pain scale (Baker & Wong, 1987) | P < .05 | Despite P value being reported, no mean/SD for pain scale reported in paper | 14 | N/A |
| 28 | Bodhise, 2004 | One group pre-post test / no control | 4, Children + adults | Massage / massage therapist | 0–10 Numerical Pain Scale (NPS) | p<.001 | Pre therapy NPS [9.6(.80)] Post therapy NPS [2.8(.75)] | 10 | N/A |
| 29 | Co, 1979 | Crossover Design / accupuncture vs sham accupuncture control | 10, Adults | Acupuncture / acupuncturist | Non-standardized verbal tool (Q1 - Do you have pain in your [name painful site]?) (Q2 - If yes, then is the pain the same, better or worse than it was the last time I saw you?) | p>.05 | Nonsignificant difference between verbal report of pain reduction between sham and TX; both sham and actual acupuncture resulted in verbally reported patient pain reduction in 93% of all pain crises | 6 | N/A |
| 30 | Lu, 2013 | Pre-post study design / no control | 47, Adults | Acupuncture / acupuncturists (licensed) | 0–10 Numerical Pain Scale (NPS) | P < .001 | Pre to post therapy mean difference of 2.1 on the NPS (individual pre and post means/SD’s not reported) | 14 | N/A |
| 31 | Myers, 1999 | RCT/ massage relaxation training | 16, Adults | Massage / massage therapist (licensed) | McGill pain questionnaire and Visual Analog Scale | P < .001 | Pre therapy pain intensity 4.98(2.29) and unpleasantness 5.63(1.73); Post therapy 3.93(1.73) and 3.25(1.38) | 13 | .53 |
| 32 | Thomas, 2013 | RCT / healing touch vs. relaxation training | 17, Adults | Healing touch / nurse | 0–10 Numerical Pain Scale (NPS) | P > .05 | Non significant differences; Pre-intervention NPS 6.83(1.85) to 4.55 (2.54) for healing touch, and 7.83 (1.59) to 7.17 (1.33) for relaxation control | 13 | .18 |
| 33 | Tinti, 2010 | case report / no control | 1, Adults | Aquatic Rehabilitation / not clear | SF-36, McGill pain questionnaire, Wisconsin pain survey | p < .05 | Pre to post therapy SF-36 = 50 to 93, McGill = 33 to 30, Wisconsin = 10 to 7 (no standard deviations reported due to single person trial) | 12 | N/A |
| Skill-based (dyad) | |||||||||
| 34 | Barakat, 2011 | RCT / CBT vs attention control | 41, Children (parent dyad) | CBT (group) / psychologist | Pain Diary (Gil, 1994) | p = .86 | Nonsignificant decrease % pain days from 24.94(29.64) to 16.71(23.03) | 15 | .35 |
| 35 | Braniecki, 2003 | RCT / CBT vs waitlist | 16, Children (parent dyad) | CBT (group) / not clear | Pediatric Pain Questionnaire (Varni, Thompson 1987) Pain diary (Shaprio, 1990) | p<.001 | Significant decreases parent pain score (p<.001) over course of study 18.39(3.64) to 9.61(4.70); Nonsignificant patient decrease in pain score 16.63(1.91) to 12.85(3.97) on PPQ and differences between tx and waitlist groups; | 16 | .12 |
| 36 | Masuda, 2011 | Case report / no control | 1, Children (parent dyad) | Acceptance and Commitment Therapy / not clear | Pediatric pain scale (Varni, Thompson 1987) | no significance reported | Nonsignificant decrease in average pain (PPQ) pre to post intervention 15(SD=NR) to 10(SD=NR) | 13 | N/A |
| 37 | McElligott, 2006 | RCT / writing vs. control | 36, Children (parent dyad) | Writing / not clear | Pediatric Symptom Checklist for Youth (Jellinek & Murphy, 1990) | P > .01 | No significant differences in pain, | 15 | .38 |
| 38 | Powers, 2002 | One group pre-post test / no control | 3, Children (parent dyad) | CBT (group) / psychologist, hematologist, education specialist | Pain Diary (Gil, 1994) Daily Home Diary (Dinges et al., 1997; 10-point Likert Scale) | p > .05 | No significant difference; did not report mean or SD; | 15 | N/A |
| 27 | Lemanek, 2009 | RCT / massage vs attention control | 34, Children (parent dyad) | Massage (with parents) / massage therapist (liscensed) | Pediatric pain scale (Baker & Wong, 1987) | P < .05 | Despite P value being reported, no mean/SD for pain scale reported in paper | 14 | N/A |
| Skill-based (other) | |||||||||
| 39 | Ağargün, 2001 | Case report / no control | 1, Children | Hypnosis / not clear | Pain measurement tool unclear and not described in case report | not reported | Begin with numerical score 6/7 item scale, reduce to unknown amount | 2 | N/A |
| 40 | Anie, 2002 | One group pre-post test / no control | 35, Adults | CBT / psychologist | Pain Interview (Anie et al., 2002; records patients’ reports of frequency, intensity and duration of painful episodes and health care utilization within a 12-month period | p>.05 | Duration pain episodes (hrs) mean pretherapy 114.7(112.4) to 90.0(56.7) post therapy; the number of pain episodes (over 12 months) pre-therapy 4.3(5.3) to 2.7(0.6) post therapy | 14 | .39 |
| 41 | Cozzi, 1987 | One group pre-post test / no control | 8, Children + Adults | Biofeedback / not clear | Non-standardized 5-point pain intensity scale (1 = mild pain, 5 = pain requires hospitalization) | p<.05 | Statistically significant decline pain intensity 1.92(NR) to 0.5 (NR) on 5-pnt scale, and statistically significant decreased number of self-treated pain crises 2.21(NR) to .44(NR) from weeks 1–4 to 9–12; standard deviations not reported | 12 | .58 |
| 42 | Cummins, 2003 | RCT / CBT vs hydroxyurea | 36, Adults | CBT / not clear | Pain Interview (Anie et al., 2002; records patients’ reports of frequency, intensity and duration of painful episodes and health care utilization within a 12-month period | p<.05 | CBT compared to Hydroxyurea group had significantly more painful episodes 4.3(3.4) compared to 1.4(2.1), but shorter hospitalizations 2.4(2.7) to 7.2(5.5) | 9 | .19 |
| 43 | Dignes, 1997 | One group pre-post test / vs treatment as usual | 37, Children + adults | CBT+ Hypnosis / not clear | Daily Pain Diary (Shapiro et al., 1990) | P < .05 | Statistically significant decrease in % SCD pain days (20.41 to 10.65, p=.002) and days of other pain (18.92 to 5.83, p=.004) | 14 | N/A |
| 44 | Dobson, 2014 | Quasi-experimental interrupted time series / no control | 20, Children | Guided Imagery / certified child life specialist | Pediatric pain scale (Baker & Wong, 1987), daily diary (Dampier et al., 2002) | p < .05 | Statistically significant decrease in pain frequency (5.6(3.3) to 2.5(4.1), p=.003); and pain intensity (2.4(1.2) to .7(1.2), p=.00) | 14 | N/A |
| 45 | Gil, 2001 | RCT / CBT vs treatment as usual | 46, Children | CBT / psychologist | Pain diary (Gil et al., 1994); Pain diary collects pain intensity (ranked 0–10), medication use (use of analgesics), health care contacts (ED visit), and activity reduction (yes/no) | P < .04 | At follow-up, statistically significant more active approach to pain management 90(33.5) then control 57.44(30.9) | 14 | N/A |
| 46 | McClellan, 2009 | Quasi-experimental / no control | 19, Children | CBT (electronic device) / not clear | Daily Pain and Activity Diary (Combination of the Gil 1994 and Dinges 1997 pain diaries) | not reported | No pain outcome reported but intervention described as helpful by both parent 79(21.73) and child 81.44(21.58) on a 0–100 consumer satisfaction form | 12 | N/A |
| 47 | Thomas, 1999 | RCT / CBT vs attention placebo group vs usual treatment | 59, Adults | CBT (group) / psychologist | Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (Nicholas, 1989), Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (Melzack, 1987), Beliefs About Pain Control Questionnaire (Skevington, 1990) | P < .05 | Compared to attention control placebo and treatment as usual, CBT group had statistically significant decrease in pain intensity [pre therapy 14.3(10.45) to post therapy 8.3(8.89)]; treatment effect size .18; p < .008 | 15 | .18 |
| 14 | Thompson, 2014 | cross sectional survey; retrospective/ no control | 227, Adults | Prayer, Relaxation, Massage, Exercise, Spiritual healing, Herbal medicine, Yoga / (N/A) | Implemented a non-standardized 3 page survey created specifically for the study (did report chronbach alpha) | no significance testing for pain outcomes | 91.6% respondents used CAM last 6 months, 23% reporting benefits of Prayer, Relaxation, Massage, and other CAM therapies | 10 | N/A |
| 48 | Zelter, 1979 | case report / no control | 2, Adults | Hypnosis / not clear | pain related hospital contacts over 4 and 8 months | no significance testing | No significance testing - patient reported improvement in frequency and intensity of pain crises with self-hypnosis techniques; reduction in hospital utilization from pre- to post-hypnosis training reported (no statistical testing) | 4 | N/A |
| Peer-support Group | |||||||||
| 49 | Butler, 1993 | Cohort study / no control | 24, Adults | Social support group / physician, psychologist, and social worker | not clear - appears to be collected by self-report and from patient interviews in group sessions | not reported | Patients self-reported improvements in recovery time from VOC’s | 5 | N/A |
| 50 | Fox, 1999 | case report / no control | NR, Children + Adults | Social support group / not clear | not clear - appears to be collected by self-report and from patient interviews | not reported | Only describe decreases in pain through relaxation training and biofeedback, no measures reported | 3 | N/A |
| 51 | Martin, 2005 | RCT / social support group vs treatment as usual | 40, Children + Adults | Social support group / not clear | Medical Outcome Survey (Stewert et al., 1988) [outcomes related to quality of life – mental and physical health, pain, etc.] | P < .05 | Statistically significant increased in medical outcomes scores pre-intervention 65.32(25.82) to post intervention 71.71(20.17); but was not statistically significant when compared to control group (p=.167) | 15 | .27 |
| 52 | Nash, 1993 | Social support groups / no control | 26, Adults | Social support group / professionals (unclear) | not clear (authors said that they “combined multiple measures used in self-help and sickle cell research” - no further description) | P < .05 | Statistically significant negative correlation between length of group membership with disease symptoms scores (physical pain & psych), and total interference (no mean or SD provided) | 14 | N/A |
| 53 | Telfair, 1999 | cross sectional survey; retrospective / no control | 79, Children + Adults | Social support group / social workers and nurse coordinators | National SCD Adult Self Help Study’s Sickle Cell Disease Problem Scale (Nash, 1991), 5-point likert pain scale (non-standardized, pain over last 30 days ranging from no pain to very severe pain) | p < .01 | Subjects with high group satisfaction had significantly lower pain levels that those with low group satisfaction (f(3,75)=8.30, p<.01) [no mean or standard deviations reported] | 14 | N/A |