Parents’ Perceptions of Pharmacological and Non-pharmacological Techniques for Pain Control in Children Ayala Y. Gorodzinsky 1, Jessica M. Joseph 1, Susan T. Heinze 1, Katherine S. Salamon 1, Amy L. Drendel 2 and W. Hobart Davies 1 University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee 1 and Medical College of Wisconsin 2 Introduction  Parents serve as the primary managers of their children’s pain by teaching children coping strategies and pain reduction techniques.  Pain management techniques can be divided into two main categories: pharmacological and non- pharmacological (alternative).  Though many individuals use pharmacological techniques like non-prescription analgesics to reduce their pain, some parents also use alternative pain reduction techniques, such as massage and acupuncture.  Currently, there is limited information available about how parents in community populations decide which pain management techniques to use to manage their children’s pain.  This study assessed parents’ opinion and use of pharmacological and alternative pain management techniques in order to increase understanding about how parents control and cope with their children’s pain. Methods  A community survey assessing parents’ opinion and use of pharmacological and alternative pain management techniques.  Parents were asked, via an online survey, questions regarding their use of and comfort with medications and alternative techniques when caring for their child’s pain.  A total of 834 parents, who had children between the ages of 2 and 17 years old, were surveyed.  The respondents had a mean age of years (SD = 8.45 years), most of whom were Caucasian (86.2%), and the majority were mothers (61.3%). Most had at least a high school education (85.6%).  The average age of the children the parents were reporting on was 8.88 years old (SD = 4.75) and a little over half were boys (50.5%).  The sample was divided by age into child (12 and under) and adolescent (13 to 17) groups, with 576 and 253 in each group, respectively. Correspondence to Ayala Y. Gorodzinsky University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Department of Psychology Milwaukee, WI Discussion  These results provide insight into parents’ perceptions of medication use for their children, especially when discussing negative consequences of analgesic use and the rationale parents use when deciding whether or not to administer medications for their child’s pain. It can be seen that many parents prefer to use alternative pain reduction techniques for their children.  This knowledge should be taken into account when health care professionals discuss childhood pain management options with parents.  The results from this study are important for informing physicians of parents’ level of understanding and comfort with medication use, and possible alternative options that parents can use to treat pediatric pain. Results  The results indicate that about half of the parents (48.5%) reported at least monthly pain occurrence for the youth.  The most common sites of pain for children were stomach (37%), head (24.3%), elbows (17.4%) and mouth (13.2%). The most common sites of pain for adolescents were head (45.8%), back (25.7%), stomach (24.5%) and bones/joints (18.6%).  There was no significant difference between age groups for reported parental comfort with giving pain medications, 89.8% were somewhat or very comfortable giving analgesics to their children.  The most common analgesics administered by parents to their child when in pain were Tylenol/acetaminophen (84.1%) and Advil/Motrin/ibuprofen (75.6%).  The majority of parents (89.2%) reported that they give their child pain medication to improve their child’s comfort. Common alternative techniques parents used when their children experienced pain ChildrenAdolescents Providing comfort 86.8%52.6 % Giving a massage 74.1%49 % Giving attention 65.3%26.1 % Taking a bath 62.8%43.5 % Giving liquids 62.8%38.7 % Applying ice to the area of pain 66%64.8 % Providing youth with distraction from pain 54.7%22.5% Help the youth sleep 51.7%77.5% Applying warmth to the area of pain 51.4%43.5% Restrict youth’s activities 50.5%49.4% Telling youth to breathe through pain32.6%16.2% Consequences reported by parents for not administering pain medication ChildrenAdolescents Overdose on medication48.1%47.8% Addiction to medication13.5%25.3% Drowsiness from medication31.9%32% Nausea from medication28.8%27.7% Common reasons reported by parents for not administering pain medication ChildrenAdolescents Thought youth was not really in pain35.6%11.1% Thought youth was exaggerating pain36.5%27.7% Thought pain would pass quickly36.1%51% Thought pain was stress related10.1%20.2% Used non-pharmacological approaches for pain reduction 46.5%36%