Demographics of children and parents interviewed.

BackgroundPain is a common experience associated with healthcare for children, who often recall it as the worst part of hospitalisation. Several factors make assessment of pain more challenging in children. Families have previously identified the development of improved tools to assess pain in children as a key priority. We therefore sough to investigate the nature of this experience from the perspective of children and their parents to inform the development of such tools.MethodsTo explore the phenomenology of children’s acute pain to inform improved assessment, we conducted a qualitative study with combined (children aged ≥4 and parents) semi-structured interviews of families with children aged 0–16 years at a tertiary paediatric hospital in Western Australia. The interviews were analysed using the Framework Method.ResultsWe recruited 27 families, stratified across ConclusionsChildren demonstrated diverse experiences of pain and sensory associations. These findings can inform the development of paediatric pain assessment methodology.The novelty and adaptability offered by digital platforms may assist in creating individualised and engaging pain assessment tools.