{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T12:06:12Z","timestamp":1791893172722,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,25]],"date-time":"2024-11-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1732492800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Executive Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA) EACEA.A\u2014Erasmus+\/EU Solidarity Corps","award":["101177475\u2014HUPEDCARE\u2014ERASMUS-EDU-2024-CBHE.2024-2027"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101177475\u2014HUPEDCARE\u2014ERASMUS-EDU-2024-CBHE.2024-2027"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>(1) Background: Chronic pain in children remains an under-researched area, especially compared to acute pain. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions in the management of pediatric chronic pain and their impact on the well-being of both children and their families. Given the growing interest in integrative treatments to reduce reliance on pharmacological solutions, this review addresses the need for alternative therapeutic approaches. (2) Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines, covering studies published between 2019 and 2024 from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus. Eligible studies included children aged 2 to 18 years with chronic pain who received non-pharmacological interventions. Data were extracted on intervention types, participant characteristics, and outcomes. The risk of bias was assessed using RoB2 for randomized trials and ROBINS-I for non-randomized studies. (3) Results: A total of 11 studies involving 1739 children were included, assessing interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy, personalized psychosocial follow-up programs, hypnotherapy, music therapy, and digital tools. The results demonstrated significant reductions in pain severity, improvements in emotional and physical well-being, and high patient satisfaction. However, the generalizability of findings was limited by the small sample sizes and variability in study designs. (4) Conclusions: Non-pharmacological interventions appear effective in managing pediatric chronic pain, offering improvements in pain reduction and quality of life. Further research is needed to optimize these approaches and confirm their long-term benefits across diverse populations. These interventions represent promising alternatives or complements to pharmacological treatments in pediatric pain management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children11121420","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,25]],"date-time":"2024-11-25T05:21:32Z","timestamp":1732512092000},"page":"1420","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Effectiveness of Non-Pharmacological Interventions in the Management of Pediatric Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4989-1628","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abel","family":"Checa-Pe\u00f1alver","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Toledo University Hospital (HUT), Pediatric Hospitalization, Castilla-La Mancha Health Service (SESCAM), University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo Campus, 45071 Toledo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6398-878X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina","family":"L\u00edrio-Romero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Group of Pediatric and Neurologic Physiotherapy, ImproveLab, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2582-9045","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Esther A.","family":"Luiz Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Sao Carlos Campus, Sao Paulo 13565-905, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8285-2367","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sonsoles","family":"Hernandes-Iglesias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Sciences Faculty, Francisco de Vitoria University, M-515, km 1, 800, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarc\u00f3n, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5306-214X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Inmaculada","family":"Garc\u00eda-Valdivieso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Physiotherapy and Nursing, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7891-1837","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Manuel","family":"P\u00e9rez-Pozuelo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Physiotherapy and Nursing, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9640-0409","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sagrario","family":"G\u00f3mez-Cantarino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Sciences Faculty, Francisco de Vitoria University, M-515, km 1, 800, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarc\u00f3n, Spain"},{"name":"Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing (UICISA: E), Coimbra Nursing School (ESEnfC), 3004-011 Coimbra, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1976","DOI":"10.1097\/j.pain.0000000000001939","article-title":"The Revised International Association for the Study of Pain Definition of Pain: Concepts, Challenges, and Compromises","volume":"161","author":"Raja","year":"2020","journal-title":"Pain"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"e1","article-title":"Documento de Posicionamiento Del Grupo Espa\u00f1ol Para El Estudio Del Dolor Pedi\u00e1trico (GEEDP) de La Asociaci\u00f3n Espa\u00f1ola de Pediatr\u00eda Sobre El Registro Del Dolor Como Quinta Constante","volume":"91","year":"2019","journal-title":"An. 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