Pain
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Children born very preterm (≤ 32 weeks gestation) exhibit greater internalizing (anxious/depressed) behaviors compared to term-born peers as early as 2 years corrected age (CA); however, the role of early stress in the etiology of internalizing problems in preterm children remains unknown. Therefore, we examined the relationship between neonatal pain and internalizing behavior at 18 months CA in children born very preterm and examined whether parent behavior and stress moderated this relationship. Participants were 145 children (96 very preterm, 49 full term) assessed at 18 months CA. ⋯ Parent Sensitivity and Nonhostility moderated the relationship between neonatal pain and Internalizing behavior (all P<.05); higher parent education (P<.03), lower Parenting Stress (P=.001), and fewer children in the home (P<.01) were associated with lower Internalizing behavior in very preterm children, after adjusting for neonatal medical confounders, gender, and child cognitive ability (all P>.05). Parent Emotional Availability and stress were not associated with Internalizing behaviors in full-term control children. Positive parent interaction and lower stress appears to ameliorate negative effects of neonatal pain on stress-sensitive behaviors in this vulnerable population.
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The biopsychosocial model is increasingly accepted in low back pain (LBP) research and clinical practice. In order to assess the role of psychological factors in the development and persistence of pain, a wide array of measures has been developed. Yet there is likely to be considerable conceptual overlap between such measures, and consequently, a lack of clarity about the importance of psychological factors. ⋯ Results confirmed that considerable overlap exists in psychological measures commonly used in LBP research. Most measures tap into patients' emotional distress. These findings help us to understand how psychological constructs relate together; implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.
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Review Meta Analysis
Relationship between quantitative sensory testing and pain or disability in people with spinal pain-A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Sensitization of the nervous system can present as pain hypersensitivity that may contribute to clinical pain. In spinal pain, however, the relationship between sensory hypersensitivity and clinical pain remains unclear. This systematic review examined the relationship between pain sensitivity measured via quantitative sensory testing (QST) and self-reported pain or pain-related disability in people with spinal pain. ⋯ Fair correlations were found for the relationship between pain intensity and thermal temporal summation (0.26, 95% CI: 0.09 to 0.42) or pain tolerance (-0.30, 95% CI: -0.45 to -0.13), but only a few studies were available. Our study indicates either that pain threshold is a poor marker of central sensitization or that sensitization does not play a major role in patients' reporting of pain and disability. Future research prospects are discussed.
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The lack of efficacy of rehabilitative approaches to the management of chronic whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) may be in part due to heterogeneity of the clinical presentation of this patient population. The aim of this study was to identify homogeneous subgroups of patients with chronic WAD on the basis of symptoms of PTSD and sensory hypersensitivity and to compare the clinical presentation of these subgroups. Successive k-means cluster analyses using 2, 3 and 4 cluster solutions were performed by using data for 331 (221 female) patients with chronic (>3 months) WAD. ⋯ The nPnH cluster was the largest cluster, comprising 43.5% of the sample. The PH cluster had significantly worse disability, pain intensity, self-reported mental health status and cervical range of motion in comparison to the nPnH and nPH clusters. These data provide further evidence of the heterogeneity of the chronic WAD population and the association of a more complex clinical presentation with higher disability and pain in this patient group.