Abstract
BACKGROUND: The present study was set in the context of verbal pain expression in children and concerns, more exactly, the qualitative dimension of painful sensations. OBJECTIVE: To identify the peculiarities of verbal expressions related to the qualitative aspect of pain. METHODS: Sixty patients presenting with pain at a university pediatric hospital were included in the study. Their ages ranged from four to 18 years. The origin of sensorial pain descriptors was confirmed, reflecting the past perceptive experiences of children that are not necessarily painful. These experiences are characterized as prototypes because, although they are related to various contexts of life, their type of interaction with the world does not vary. RESULTS: In such a context, pinching, tugging, palpitation, squashing and pressing, tingling and squeezing each convey particular sensorial and motor experiences whose basic structure does not change from one situation to another. The results also showed that from four years of age onward, children are able to compare and recognize an analogy between an exclusively tactile experience and their painful sensation. CONCLUSION: The results emphasize the central role of analogical reasoning in the verbal expression of pain, showing that the level of cognitive development is not an a priori determinant variable for qualifying pain.