Articles: pain-measurement.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The role of developmental factors in predicting young children's use of a self-report scale for pain.
Accurate pain assessment is the foundation for effective pain management in children. At present, there is no clear consensus regarding the age at which young children are able to appropriately use self-report scales for pain. This study examined young children's ability to use the Faces Pain Scale-Revised; (FPS-R; [Hicks CL, von Baeyer CL, Spafford PA, van Korlaar I, Goodenough B. ⋯ However, over half of the 6-year-olds demonstrated difficulties using the FPS-R in response to the vignettes. Child age was the only significant predictor of children's ability to use the scale in response to the vignettes. Thus, a substantial number of young children experienced difficulties using the FPS-R when rating pain in hypothetical vignettes, although the ability to use the scale did improve with age.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Characterizing individual differences in heat-pain sensitivity.
Heat induced pain has been shown to follow a positively accelerating power function for groups of subjects, yet the extent to which this applies to individual subjects is unknown. Statistical methods were developed for assessing the goodness of fit and reliability of the power function for data from individual subjects with the aim of using such functions for characterizing individual differences in heat-pain sensitivity. 175 subjects rated ascending and random series of contact heat stimuli with visual analogue scales for pain intensity (VAS-I) and unpleasantness (VAS-A). Curve fitting showed excellent model fit. ⋯ Exponent reliability was high for the ascending series (VAS-I=.92; VAS-A=.91), but considerably lower for the random series (VAS-I=.69; VAS-A=.71). Individual differences constituted 60% of the total variance in pain ratings, whereas stimulus temperature accounted for only 40%. This finding underscores the importance of taking individual differences into account when performing pain studies.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The development and preliminary validation of the Profile of Chronic Pain: Extended Assessment Battery.
The aim of the present research was the development and validation of a set of instruments, collectively called the Profile of Chronic Pain: Extended Assessment Battery (PCP:EA), designed to be administered to adults (between the ages of 25 to 80) after establishing the existence of a chronic pain problem. The final 86-item version of the PCP:EA consisted of 33 single items assessing: pain location and severity, pain characteristics (e.g. worst daily pain), medication use, health care status, the identity of the most important person in the patient's life, and functional limitations in 10 areas of daily living. In addition, the PCP:EA includes 13 multi-item subscales addressing aspects of coping (guarding, ignoring, task persistence, and positive self-talk), catastrophizing, pain attitudes and beliefs (including disability beliefs, belief in a medical cure for pain, belief in pain control, and pain-induced fear), and positive (tangible and emotional) and negative (insensitivity and impatience) social responses. ⋯ Stratified sampling was employed to assure equal gender and age group representation across three age groupings (25-44; 45-64; 65-80). Two survey studies provided strong evidence for the hypothesized factor structure, internal consistency, independence from response bias, and validity of the PCP:EA. Moreover, the presence of normative data enhance the diagnostic and prescriptive utility of the instrument.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of long-term neck muscle training on pressure pain threshold: a randomized controlled trial.
Muscle tenderness has been measured in several studies to evaluate effectiveness of treatment methods, but only short-term results have been reported so far. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effects of two different muscle training methods on the pressure pain threshold of neck muscles in women with neck pain. Altogether 180 woman with chronic, non-specific neck pain were randomized into three groups: neck muscle endurance training, neck muscle strength training and control groups. ⋯ Significantly higher changes in pressure pain threshold were detected at all six sites in the strength training group and at four out of six sites in the endurance training group compared to the control group. This is the first study to show an increase in pressure pain thresholds as a result of long-term muscle training. A decrease in neck pain was associated with reduced pressure pain sensitivity in neck muscles, showing that the pressure pain threshold may be a useful outcome measure of the effectiveness of neck muscle rehabilitation.
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Nov 2005
Randomized Controlled TrialChronic pelvic pain treated with gabapentin and amitriptyline: a randomized controlled pilot study.
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and side effects of gabapentin, amitriptyline, and their combination in women with chronic pelvic pain. ⋯ Gabapentin alone or in combination with amitriptyline is better than amitriptyline alone in the treatment of female chronic pelvic pain.