Toward a clearer specification of acute pain risk factors and chronic pain outcomes

Pain Forum ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Dworkin
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 421-436
Author(s):  
Paul Glare ◽  
Sarah Overton ◽  
Karin Aubrey

Current treatments for chronic pain are often ineffective. At the same as searching for novel therapeutics, there is growing interest in preventing acute pain becoming chronic. While the field is still in its infancy, its knowledge base is increasingly expanding. Certainly, biomedical factors, for example, the type of tissue damage, are important but they are often not modifiable. Psychosocial risk factors (e.g., thoughts and beliefs about pain, mood, social support, workplace problems) are modifiable. There is an increasing body of research that cognitive behavioral therapy can prevent transition. Internet-based delivery of cognitive behavioral therapy improves access. Clinicians need to be aware that they may inadvertently promote pain chronification in their patients by what they say and do.


Author(s):  
Daniel F. Lonergan

Patients who struggle with both pain and addiction present with some of the most challenging scenarios in clinical medicine. An understanding of the neurophysiologic basis of addiction is a key element in the proper management of acute and chronic pain. Physicians should appropriately screen for addiction and employ a comprehensive and safe approach to pain management, especially for patients with risk factors or a history significant for opioid addiction. Physicians should also understand the legal and regulatory issues governing the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances in the course of treatment for acute pain, chronic pain, and addiction.


Author(s):  
Patricia Lavand’homme ◽  
Fabienne Roelants

Persistent pain after childbirth has recently received a lot of attention as potentially many women could be affected. Several pain syndromes including pelvic girdle pain, low back pain, and headaches occur during the pregnancy and can persist after delivery. The prevalence of chronic pain directly related to the delivery, at 6 months and later after childbirth, is however very low (< 2%) compared to chronic pain which occurs after other types of tissue trauma as in common surgical procedures. Acute pain is a major risk factor in the development of persistent pain after surgery and trauma. After childbirth, the severity of acute pain, independent of the mode of delivery (i.e. the degree of tissue damage) only predicts an increased risk of persistent pain (a 2.5-fold increase) at 2 months but not later. An individual’s pain response seems to be the most relevant factor in the development of persistent pain. In retrospective studies, patient-specific risk factors, such as a pre-existing chronic pain condition or pain elsewhere, were predictive factors. In prospective studies, the low incidence of persistent pain at 6 and 12 months make the analysis of risk factors unreliable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Bjarke Vaegter ◽  
Mette Terp Høybye ◽  
Frederik Hjorth Bergen ◽  
Christine E. Parsons

Abstract Objectives Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in patients with chronic pain. However, the majority of studies to date examining sleep disturbances in patients with chronic pain have been population-based cross-sectional studies. The aims of this study were to 1) examine the frequency of sleep disturbances in patients referred to two interdisciplinary chronic pain clinics in Denmark, 2) explore associations between sleep disturbances and pain intensity, disability and quality of life at baseline and follow-up, and 3) explore whether changes in sleep quality mediated the relationships between pain outcomes at baseline and pain outcomes at follow-up. Methods We carried out a longitudinal observational study, examining patients enrolled in two chronic pain clinics assessed at baseline (n=2,531) and post-treatment follow-up (n=657). Patients reported on their sleep disturbances using the sleep quality subscale of the Karolinska Sleep Questionnaire (KSQ), their pain intensity using 0–10 numerical rating scales, their pain-related disability using the Pain Disability Index (PDI), and quality of life using the EuroQol-VAS scale. The average time between baseline and follow-up was 207 days (SD=154). Results At baseline, the majority of patients reported frequent sleep disturbances. We found a significant association at baseline between self-reported sleep disturbances and pain intensity, pain-related disability, and quality of life, where greater sleep disturbance was associated with poorer outcomes. At follow-up, patients reported significant improvements across all pain and sleep outcomes. In two mediation models, we showed that changes in sleep disturbances from baseline to follow-up were significantly associated with (i) pain intensity at follow-up, and (ii) pain disability at follow-up. However, baseline pain intensity and disability scores were not associated with changes in sleep disturbances and, we did not find evidence for significant mediation of either pain outcome by changes in sleep disturbances. Conclusions Self-reported sleep disturbances were associated with pain outcomes at baseline and follow-up, with greater sleep disturbances associated with poorer pain outcomes. Changes in sleep quality did not mediate the relationships between baseline and follow-up scores for pain intensity and disability. These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence confirming an association between sleep and chronic pain experience, particularly suggestive of a sleep to pain link. Our data following patients after interdisciplinary treatment suggests that improved sleep is a marker for a better outcome after treatment.


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 626-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen L. Poleshuck ◽  
Jennifer Katz ◽  
Carl H. Andrus ◽  
Laura A. Hogan ◽  
Beth F. Jung ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 210-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne K. Nitter ◽  
Are H. Pripp ◽  
Karin Ø. Forseth

AbstractIntroductionChronic musculoskeletal pain represents a significant health problem among adults in Norway. The prevalence of chronic pain can be up to 50% in both genders. However, the prevalence of chronic widespread pain is significantly higher in females than in males. Chronic widespread pain is seen as the end of a continuum of pain. There is rather sparse knowledge about the incidence of pain in initially pain free individuals and the course of self-reported pain over time. Moreover, little is known about risk factors for incidence of chronic pain or prognostic factors for the course of self-reported pain. We believe that such knowledge may contribute to develop strategies for treatment at an early stadium of the pain condition and thereby reduce the prevalence of chronic pain included chronic widespread pain.Aims of the studyThe aims of this study were threefold: (1) to calculate the incidence of self-reported musculoskeletal pain in a female cohort, (2) to describe the course of pain and (3) to investigate whether or not health complaints and sleep problems are predictive factors for onset of pain or prognostic factors for the course of pain.MethodsThis is a prospective population-based study of all women between 20 and 50 years who were registered in Arendal, Norway, in 1989 (N = 2498 individuals). A questionnaire about chronic pain (pain >3 months duration in muscles, joints, back or the whole body), modulating factors for pain, sleep problems and seven non-specific health complaints was mailed to all traceable women, in 1990 (N =2498), 1995 (n = 2435) and 2007 (n = 2261). Of these, 1338 responded on all three occasions. Outcome measures were presence and extent of chronic pain.ResultsThe prevalence of chronic pain was 57% in 1990 and 61% in 2007. From 1990 to 2007, 53% of the subjects changed pain category. The incidence of chronic pain in initially pain free individuals during follow-up was 44%, whereas the recovery rate was 25%. Impaired sleep quality predicted onset of chronic pain. There was a linear association between the number of health complaints and the incidence of chronic pain in initially pain free individuals. Equivalent results were found for persistence of pain and worsening of pain.ConclusionThe prevalence of chronic pain was rather stable throughout the follow-up period, but the prevalence of chronic widespread pain increased. Individual changes in pain extent occurred frequently. The presence of sleep disturbances and number of health complaints predicted onset, persistence and worsening of pain.ImplicationsSleep problems must be thoroughly addressed as a possible risk factor for onset or worsening of pain. Elimination of sleep problems in an early phase is an interesting approach in treating chronic pain. More research is needed to illuminate the possible pathogenetic relations between pain, non-specific health complaints, sleep problems and also depression.


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