National Prevalence of Pain Among Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pain is a leading contributor to the global morbidity and disability burden. 1 Pediatric pain is especially problematic, as it may impede healthful development into and throughout adulthood. 2 For children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), pain is a highly understudied area, perhaps owing to the misguided historical impression that children with ASD have lower pain sensitivity. 3 However, recent evidence has contradicted this perspective 4 and indicates that pain may be implicated in pathogenesis of poor health outcomes in children with ASD. 5 Therefore, this study sought to provide recent national estimates of the prevalence of pain among children and adolescents with ASD.