European journal of pain : EJP
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Hypervigilance, i.e., excessive attention, is often invoked as a potential explanation for the observation that many individuals with fibromyalgia show a heightened sensitivity to stimulation in various sensory modalities, such as touch and hearing. Compelling evidence for this assumption is, however, lacking. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of somatosensory hypervigilance in patients with fibromyalgia. ⋯ No evidence was found to support the claim that patients with fibromyalgia display somatosensory hypervigilance. This finding challenges the idea of hypervigilance as a static feature of fibromyalgia and urges for a more dynamic view in which hypervigilance emerges in situations when bodily threat is experienced.
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African Americans are reported to be more sensitive to pain than European Americans. Pain sensitivity has been shown to be genetically linked in animal models and is likely to be in humans. ⋯ Greater African ancestry was associated with higher levels of self-reported pain, although this accounted for only a minor fraction of the overall variation in the Pain Construct.
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Neuropathic pain (NP) is common in the adult population but is difficult to study in electronic health record (EHR) databases because it is a symptom rather than a pathologic diagnosis. The first step in studying NP in EHR databases is to develop methods for identifying patients with NP. The objectives of this study were to develop estimates of the prevalence of NP among patients in a primary care EHR database and describe these patients' demographic characteristics and health-care utilization. ⋯ This study represents a step towards being able to utilize EHR databases to study NP by proposing methods to identify patients with certain and probable NP in a primary care EHR database. Validation against a gold standard is the next step.
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Committed action is a relatively understudied facet of the psychological flexibility model but a potentially important process of overt behaviour in relation to chronic pain. In this study, we take a previously developed measure of committed action, the Committed Action Questionnaire (CAQ), and validate a shorter version. ⋯ The CAQ-8 appears equally adequate as the CAQ as a measure of committed action. Its development ought to facilitate further study of this process of engagement in activity and of the wider psychological flexibility model in relation to chronic pain.
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Approximately 20% of patients experience chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) after total knee replacement (TKR). There is scope to improve assessment of CPSP after TKR, and this study aimed to develop a core outcome set. ⋯ This core outcome set serves to guide assessment of CPSP after TKR. Consistency in assessment can promote standardized reporting and facilitate comparability between studies that address a common but understudied type of CPSP.