Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
Chronic pain is prevalent, costly, and disabling among older adults. Although mobility decline is inevitable with aging, it is clear, from current evidence, that older adults with chronic pain experience a greater rate of functional mobility decline than their pain-free peers. Past studies suggest that pain expedites the age-related decline in functional mobility; however, the pathways through which pain affects mobility remain unclear. Gerontological experts hypothesize that the age-related decline in mobility may be driven by alterations in energy expenditure; these concepts are outlined in a model known as the Energetic Pathway of Mobility Loss. Pain may play a critical role in this process through a pathway of energetic inefficiency, physical inactivity, and decreased capacity. ⋯ This new framework is designed to generate new clinical research and to suggest new clinical implications for older adults with painful conditions by identifying key steps and potential treatment targets in the pathway to functional mobility decline.
-
Prior research indicates that older adults with knee osteoarthritis have increased sensitivity to physical activity (SPA) and respond to physical activities of stable intensity with increases in pain. Whether SPA is present in healthy older adults without chronic pain and predicts functional outcomes remains relatively unexplored. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of SPA in healthy older adults in response to a standardized walking task, and whether SPA was associated with temporal summation of pain, pain-related fear of movement, and functional outcomes. ⋯ These findings shed light on potential mechanisms underlying SPA in older adults and suggest that SPA might be a risk factor for reduced physical activity.
-
To explore perceived pain intensity (PPI) in three drug-naïve patient groups characterized by homogeneous migraine phenotypes-migraine without aura without cutaneous allodynia (MwoA CA-), MwoA with ictal CA (MwoA CA+), and migraine with aura without cutaneous allodynia (MwA CA-)-compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). ⋯ Despite the converging evidence of pain threshold abnormalities in migraine patients, our findings suggest that migraine patients did not exhibit differences in the PPI of THS when compared with HCs, independent of phenotype and migraine severity, as well as somatic, psychiatric, or pharmacological interferences. This may depend on both the nature of the pain stimulus experienced and the involvement of selective regions or specific pain processing pathways.
-
The development of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is influenced by several factors. The risk index for chronic pain (RICP) was developed to identify patients at high risk for CPSP. The aim of this study was the external validation and update of the RICP. ⋯ The study indicates external validity of the original RICP. The updated RICP also showed good predictive ability. The results are limited by the small sample size and the amount of missing outcome data.