The Clinical journal of pain
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Multicenter Study
Ethnicity, Cortisol, and Experimental Pain Responses among Persons with Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis.
Although several factors are known to contribute to ethnic differences in pain, relatively little attention has been devoted to physiological factors. Our first aim was to examine the relationship between cortisol and pain responses during a cold-pressor task (CPT) among African American (AA) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Our second aim was to assess the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and cortisol among AA participants. ⋯ Consistent with previous findings in young healthy adults, cold-pressor pain responses are related to pre-CPT cortisol concentrations in NHW persons with knee OA but not in their AA counterparts. Additional studies are required to better understand this finding.
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The aim of this study was to analyze changes in health care utilization and cost among a sample of highly impaired children and adolescents who sought a 3-week intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment (IIPT). ⋯ The present results indicate that the health care costs of children and adolescents with severe chronic pain disorders do not significantly decrease 1 year after IIPT; however, the treatment becomes more goal-focused. Differential diagnosis measures and nonindicated therapeutic interventions decreased, and more indicated interventions, such as psychotherapy, were used. Future research is needed to investigate the economic long-term changes after IIPT.
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Cold hyperalgesia has been established as an important marker of pain severity in a number of conditions. This study aimed to establish the extent to which patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) demonstrate widespread cold, heat, and pressure hyperalgesia. OA participants with widespread cold hyperalgesia were compared with the remaining OA cohort to determine whether they could be distinguished in terms of hyperalgesia, pain report, pain quality, and physical function. ⋯ This study identified a specific subgroup of patients with knee OA who exhibited widespread, multimodality hyperalgesia, more pain, more features of neuropathic pain, and greater functional impairment. Identification of patients with this pain phenotype may permit more targeted and effective pain management.
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Widespread sensory deficits resembling hemihypoesthesia occur in 20% to 40% of chronic pain patients on the side of pain, independent of pain etiology, and have been termed nondermatomal sensory deficits (NDSDs). Sensory profiles have rarely been investigated in NDSDs. ⋯ This may indicate a distinct sensory profile in chronic non-neuropathic pain and NDSD, probably attributable to altered central pain processing and sensitization. The presence of NDSD in chronic non-neuropathic pain may be regarded as a marker for higher burden of pain disease.
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Sexual abuse, state and trait psychosocial factors, pain intensity, and pain-related disability have been shown to be correlated among individuals with chronic pain. However, the interacting relationships among these factors are poorly understood. The current study aims to test model which examines the effect of abuse, state and trait psychosocial factors, and pain intensity on pain-related disability among individuals with chronic pain. ⋯ The current model has important implications in understanding the interplay of factors involved in adjustment of individuals with chronic pain. Sexual abuse did not have a direct effect on pain-related disability. However, indirect effects through other psychosocial factors were demonstrated.