Understanding Pediatric Chest Pain and Other Symptoms

The causes of pediatric pain are often not the same for every child. Most children who visit a cardiology specialist with complaints of chest or other somatic pain have no known medical diagnosis to explain their symptoms. These children and their families often leave with no explanation for the child's distress. This early study will ask parents and children specific questions related to the stress in their lives, their emotional well-being and the children's physical functioning. The investigators want children who experience chest and other somatic pain, and those who do not, to be in their study so that they can look at both groups. The investigators hope to use these answers to better inform cardiologists who often work with children with non-cardiac pain and, in turn, help them to better serve their patients. Ultimately, the investigators hope that the answers they get will provide answers to these families. They also hope to use the results of this study to put together a short screener for the cardiologist to give to pediatric patients with complaints of chest or other somatic pain to help the cardiologists better understand their patients' symptoms.