• Katie E de Luca, Lynne Parkinson, Julie E Byles, LoT K TTKT*Research Centre for Gender Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia., Henry P Pollard, and Fiona M Blyth.
• *Research Centre for Gender Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
• Pain Med. 2016 Jul 1; 17 (7): 1308-1316.

ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence and examine the associations of neuropathic-like pain in a community-based sample of older Australian women with arthritis.DesignPopulation based cross-sectional survey.SettingParticipants were recruited from the 1946-1951 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health.SubjectsWomen with self-reported arthritis (n = 147).MethodsPrimary outcome measure was self-reported neuropathic-like pain, defined as scores ≥12 via the painDETECT screening tool. Descriptive statistics summarized health and socio-demographic characteristics, and comparisons made using student's t-test or Wilcoxon Rank Sum test, and Chi-square tests. Independent health and demographic variables were examined by univariable logistic regression, and significant variables included in multiple variable logistic regression modelling.ResultsThirty-nine women (26.5%) were screened as having neuropathic-like pain. Women with neuropathic-like pain were more likely to have poorer health, worse pain, higher pain catastrophizing, more fatigue, and more depression than women with nociceptive pain. Neuropathic-like pain was significantly associated with higher scores on the SF-MPQ sensory scale and pain catastrophizing scale, and with more medication use.ConclusionsNeuropathic-like pain in women with arthritis was common and is associated with greater disability and poorer quality of life.© 2016 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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