Economic factors
Low income in the family and lack of resources seem
to be related to children's pain management. The
prevalence of recurrent abdominal pain was higher in
Malaysian children (13.6 %) whose family income was
low while it was 7.2 % in children with higher family
income (Boey & Goh, 2000). Additionally, headache and
abdominal complaints were frequently found symptoms
among children in Kenya. The children used both
pharmaceuticals and herbal remedies in self-treatment of
their symptoms. Boys were three times likely to use
pharmaceuticals, which reflects higher income potential
for boys, who can earn money by fishing (Geissler et al.,
2000.)
The use of health care system in pain management
was limited because of economical reasons among
Mexican-Americans (Villarruel, 1995). Additionally, lack
of resources was the reason why cancer pain was undertreated
in children living in Morocco. Minor analgesics,
considered ineffective for cancer pain were used because
they were available and less expensive than other
medication (McCarthy et al., 2004.) In addition,
comparison between children with sickle cell disease
living in London and Jamaica showed that children living
in Jamaica had larger numbers of episodes of severe pain
but painkillers were used more among children living in
London. The findings indicate that there is relative lack
of resources in Jamaica, which may cause untreated pain
in children