European journal of pain : EJP
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Chronic pain is associated with significant physical and psychological impairments across the adult lifespan. However, there is a relative gap in knowledge on individual differences that predict pain-related functioning. The current study highlights one important source of individual variation: age. ⋯ Age-related differences in psychological mechanisms that influence pain-related functioning present unique challenges and opportunities for scientists and clinicians to improve our understanding and treatment of pain across the lifespan. Additional work is needed to refine our knowledge of age-related differences in cognitive-affective, biopsychosocial dimensions of chronic pain and to develop and test the efficacy of age-tailored interventions.
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The adolescent years represent a key period for the development of musculoskeletal complaints (MSC) and the differences between boys and girls. We evaluated the prevalence and course of MSC and factors associated with MSC while growing up from age 11 to age 20. ⋯ Prevalence of MSC increases during adolescence, with a widening gap between boys and girls. The factors associated with MSC are similar in boys and girls, though the prevalence of some of these differ by sex.
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Exercise therapy is recommended for low back pain (LBP) although the immediate effects on pain are highly variable. In 96 individuals with LBP this cross-sectional study explored 1) the magnitude of exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH), and 2) measures of pain sensitivity and clinical pain manifestations in individuals reporting a clinical relevant increase in back pain during physical activity compared with individuals reporting low or no increase in back pain during physical activity. ⋯ Pain flares in response to physical activity in individuals with LBP seem to be linked with baseline pain sensitivity and pain intensity, and impair the beneficial exercise-induced hypoalgesia. Such information may better inform when individuals with LBP will have a beneficial effect of physical activity.
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This study determines the prevalence and particularities of headache and pain with neuropathic characteristics (NC) in a large French group of patients with pituitary adenoma (PA). ⋯ Migraine headaches and neuropathic pain are more frequent and disabling in PA patients than in the general population. Both types of pain are comorbid in PA patients and are poorly treated. Migraine is associated with the presence of a tumor. Thus, biological mechanisms of this relationship need to be characterized to design optimal treatments for these individuals.
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Biased interpretations of ambiguous bodily threat situations characterise youth with chronic pain, and have been associated with functional disability for this population. Despite predictions by the fear-avoidance model of chronic pain, that fear and avoidance of pain explain the association between threat perceptions and disability, this has not yet been explored in youth with chronic pain. The current study aimed to address this gap by investigating these proposed relationships, in addition to the association between bodily threat interpretations and daily aspects of disability (as well as social, and emotional impairments). ⋯ Findings indicate the clinical relevance of bodily and social threat interpretations, and fear and avoidance of pain, for this population and raise further questions regarding the content-specificity of threat interpretations.