European journal of pain : EJP
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Cross-sectional studies have shown that chronic musculoskeletal pain and somatic symptoms are frequently reported by sexual assault (SA) survivors; however, prospective studies examining pain and somatic symptoms in the months after SA have not been performed. ⋯ New and/or clinically worsening pain and somatic symptoms, lasting at least 3 months, are sequelae of SA. Further studies investigating pain and somatic symptoms after SA are needed.
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Tissue injury may, in some instances, induce chronic pain lasting for decades. Torture survivors suffer from high rates of chronic pain and hypersensitivity in the previously injured regions. Whether torture survivors display generalized alterations in pain perception and modulation, and whether such alterations underlie their chronic pain is unknown. We aimed at exploring the long-term alterations in pain perception and modulation in torture survivors. ⋯ Torture appears to induce generalized dysfunctional pain modulation that may underlie the intense chronic pain experienced by torture survivors decades after torture. The results may be generalized to instances where chronic pain exists for decades after severe injury in non-tortured populations and emphasize the importance of preventive care.
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Epidemiological studies have suggested inverse relationships between blood pressure and prevalence of conditions such as migraine and headache. It is not yet clear whether similar relationships can be established for back pain in particular in prospective studies. ⋯ Results for low back pain are consistent with the theory of hypertension-associated hypalgesia, predicting diminished pain sensitivity with increasing blood pressure, possibly with modified reactions in people suffering from long-lasting pain.
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Experimental data regarding age effects on sensitivity and pain thresholds are not always consistent, with the type of stimulus being a major source of variability. This could suggest that some types of peripheral sensory fibres undergo more important modifications with age than others. We investigated whether ageing affects differently myelinated and unmyelinated fibres. ⋯ These findings suggest that myelinated Aδ-fibres are compromised by the normal ageing process, whereas unmyelinated C-fibres seem to remain unaltered or, at least, less affected.
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The Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) is a widely used instrument for measuring health-related quality of life covering both the physical and psychosocial domain. This study examined the responsiveness of the Dutch CHQ 50-item Parent Form (PF50) in a sample of adolescents with chronic non-specific pain and/or fatigue. ⋯ Using the methods SRM, ES and AUC, the responsiveness of the CHQ-PF50 in adolescents with non-specific chronic pain or fatigue treated in a rehabilitation clinic is adequate for the physical scale and moderate for the psychosocial scale.