Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Influence of Clinical, Psychological and Psychophysical Variables on Long-term Treatment Outcomes in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Evidence from a Randomized Clinical Trial.
To assess the influence of clinical, psychological, and psychophysical variables on long-term clinical outcomes after the application of either physical therapy or surgery in women presenting with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). ⋯ This study found that baseline localized pressure pain sensitivity and depression were predictive of long-term clinical outcomes in women with CTS following physical therapy or surgery, respectively.
-
Computerized methods to analyze pain drawings (PDs) have been developed and may aid to measure the pain area more precisely. ⋯ Our results show that intra- and inter-rater reliabilities were excellent when an examiner reproduced the paper PDs into digitalized PDs. This process gives clinicians and researchers the opportunity to analyze pain extent more precisely using a computerized method.
-
Patients with chronic pain treated with opioids are at an increased risk for opioid misuse or opioid use disorder (OUD). Recent years have seen a stark increase in abuse, misuse, and diversion of prescription opioid medications. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in changing rates of opioid use disorder among patients with chronic pain. ⋯ These findings suggest that the prevalence of OUD increased substantially from 2011 to 2015. Disparities of OUD with increasing opioid use among vulnerable populations including women, those with Medicare insurance, tobacco use disorder, and low annual income should be explored further.
-
To investigate whether physician-patient agreement of potential patient problem areas impacts subsequent patient enrollment in an interdisciplinary pain management program. ⋯ The level of physician-patient agreement regarding the patients' current difficulties did not appear to influence patients' decisions to participate in interdisciplinary pain management. Extraneous, nonclinical factors may have had a greater impact on participation in interdisciplinary pain management than physician-patient agreement. Future research should focus on identifying these factors and their impact. Also, studying the impact of physician-patient agreement beyond enrollment status (eg, on successful program completion) may be helpful in potentially enhancing patient outcomes.