The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Chronic pain affects ~20% of the adult population and is associated with smoking. Smoking and pain worsen each other in the long term, but short-term temporal associations between smoking and pain throughout the day are unclear. Understanding these relationships may inform strategies for managing comorbid smoking and pain. ⋯ Further research is needed on interventions that combine tailored smoking cessation treatments and behavioral pain management strategies. PERSPECTIVE: This analysis of momentary data reported throughout the day by people with back pain who smoke revealed novel insights into short-term relationships between pain and smoking. Study results can inform future treatment development for individuals with chronic pain who smoke.
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Group-delivered programs for chronic pain are evidence-based and frequently used. The contribution of group factors to outcomes is unclear and there are no integrated findings on consumer perceptions of the group itself in programs for people with chronic pain. The aim of this systematic review was to search and synthesise qualitative data specifically related to the group itself in studies investigating group-delivered programs for people with chronic pain (PROSPERO, CRD42023382447). ⋯ PERSPECTIVE: This review demonstrates that many consumers valued peer interaction and used comparison-based cognitive processing within group-delivered programs for chronic pain. Dialogue-based interactions with similar others promoted cognitive, affect and behaviour changes. Group factors may have been underestimated and outcomes could be influenced if peer interactions within programs were optimised.
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The use of electronic health records (EHR) for chronic pain phenotyping has gained significant attention in recent years, with various algorithms being developed to enhance accuracy. Structured data fields (e.g., pain intensity, treatment modalities, diagnosis codes, and interventions) offer standardized templates for capturing specific chronic pain phenotypes. This study aims to determine which chronic pain case definitions derived from structured data elements achieve the best accuracy, and how these validation metrics vary by sociodemographic and disease-related factors. ⋯ While our current algorithms provide valuable insights, enhancement is needed to ensure more reliable chronic pain identification across diverse patient populations. PERSPECTIVES: This study evaluates chronic pain phenotyping algorithms using electronic health records, highlighting variability in performance across sociodemographic and disease-related factors. By combining structured data elements, the findings advance chronic pain identification, promoting equitable healthcare practices and highlighting the need for tailored algorithms to address subgroup-specific biases and improve outcomes.
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Observing your child in pain is inherently distressing. In the context of chronic pain, caregiver responses can powerfully impact child pain-related functioning. The Parent Empathy in the Context of Pain model postulates that parent empathic distress may hinder adaptive responses to child pain, thus playing a key role in the link between parent responses and child functioning. ⋯ In addition to providing information on its assessment, this empirical investigation provides novel insights into the construct of empathy in this context. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents initial data supporting the Parent Empathy in the Context of Pain model. Findings show involvement of parent affective responses in driving parent maladaptive behavioral responses to their child's chronic pain and emphasize the role of affective empathic distress as well as its regulation.
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Although pain is a highly common symptom, only a subset of individuals develops chronic and disabling conditions. Delving into the predictors for poor musculoskeletal pain (MSK) outcomes in adulthood may help identify those needing early prevention and intervention. This study aimed to evaluate whether birth weight or preterm birth predicts worse prognosis of MSK pain in adulthood. ⋯ PERSPECTIVE: Preterm birth tended to predict allocation to the high-risk group for worse pain prognosis in adulthood. Similar was not observed concerning birth weight. Further research is warranted to validate the results and delve into explanatory pathways.