Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Despite the high prevalence of chronic multisite pain, there is little consensus on methods to characterize it. Commonly used assessments report only one dimension of pain, that is, intensity, thus ignoring the spatial aspect of pain. We developed a novel pain quantification index, the Integrated Pain Quantification Index (IPQI), on a scale of 0 to 1 that integrates multiple distinct pain measures into a single value, thus representing multidimensional pain information with a single value. ⋯ IPQI provided a single pain score for representing complex, multidimensional pain information on one scale and has implications for comparing pain populations across longitudinal clinical trials.
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To assess the impact of the empathy of physicians, perceived by patients with chronic pain, regarding pain relief and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). ⋯ Physicians' empathy and patients' dispositional optimism have a role in determining positive outcomes in patients with chronic pain. Physicians' empathy may therefore be a suitable, yet relatively unexplored, target for intervention.
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Quantitative sensorial tests (QST) are used for evaluating specific sensorial nerve function. In this study, QST and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings are compared in lumbar disc herniation patients, and the accuracy of QST data was investigated. ⋯ According to the results of our study, QST has an additive effect to MRI for nerve root compression evaluation in the clinical basis, which might enable more sensitive diagnosis and treatment protocol. QST can also be an alternative method for evaluation of nerve root compression in patients who have contraindications for MRI.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Race and Ethnicity Do Not Clinically Associate with Quality of Life Among Patients with Chronic Severe Pain in a Federally Qualified Health Center.
Previous research suggests that race/ethnicity predicts health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic pain populations but has not examined this in community settings. This study evaluated this association in 522 community-dwelling patients with chronic pain treated at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). ⋯ Race/ethnicity does not explain important variation in HRQL reported by diverse patients with chronic pain. Psychological distress, pain disability, age, and socioeconomic status predicted this health outcome. Future studies may clarify modifiers of these associations to guide treatment in FQHC populations.
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Traumatic brain injury refers to a broad range of neurological, cognitive, and emotional factors that result from the application of an external force to the head. Individuals recovering from traumatic brain injury will frequently experience acute and chronic pain. ⋯ This review presents evidence that pain is common after traumatic brain injury. However, while there are many potential mechanisms explaining this problem such as neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, and axonal degeneration, we have no clear understanding of which of them contribute in individual patients. The authors highlight the priorities for research that will expand our knowledge and that may lead to the rational design of therapies that both reduce pain and provide optimal overall outcomes after traumatic brain injury.