{
  "abstract": "Introduction Pain is impacted by various biopsychosocial factors, including context and culture. Children in Sub-Saharan Africa present with unique diseases with a high pain burden. Robust scientific research on paediatric pain in Sub-Saharan Africa is lacking.Methods A scoping review was conducted to describe the pain prevalence, pain management practices and health system factors impacting pain management and to map the relevant research landscape in sub-Saharan Africa. The search strategy combined pain, location and age-related terms. Studies from 2000 to 2022 from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa pertaining to acute, procedural and chronic pain in children from birth to 18 years were included. Searches were conducted in African-Wide EBSCO, CINAHL, Epistemonikos, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Scielo and the Cochrane Library. A thematic approach was applied for data synthesis through an iterative process, and results presented narratively.Results After applying eligibility criteria, 68 studies were included. Studies demonstrated a high prevalence of acute and procedural pain in hospitalised children, with neonates a particularly vulnerable group. While various tools were validated for local populations, evidence-based pain assessment and management was lacking. Demonstrated knowledge deficits among healthcare workers translated into inadequate pain management. Utilisation of non-pharmacological strategies was varied. Resource limitations pose substantial obstacles to effective pain control. Data on chronic pain remains scant.Conclusion This review presents a comprehensive synthesis of the evidence on paediatric pain management in Sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the need to direct resources towards addressing deficits in paediatric pain management. Training of healthcare providers and developing evidence-based guidelines is imperative. Robust research on paediatric pain in Sub-Saharan Africa is needed to inform targeted interventions to improve pain management, reducing the pain burden in children in the region.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa"
      ],
      "name": "Anisa Bhettay"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa"
      ],
      "name": "Kotie Bester"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa"
      ],
      "name": "Romy Parker"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Independent Public Health Consultant, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa"
      ],
      "name": "Kim MacQuilkan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Global Surgery, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa"
      ],
      "name": "Salome Maswime"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon"
      ],
      "name": "Raymond Ndikontar"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa"
      ],
      "name": "Rebecca Gray"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Landscape of paediatric pain in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review",
  "uid": "bb238c5f-741f-5de2-a839-843e6c4f62ea"
}