Pain
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Differences in the use of coping strategies have been hypothesized to explain some of the variation in adaptation among chronic pain patients. Investigators often assess coping using composite indices of different coping strategies. Although the use of composite measures has advantages, it may obscure the importance of specific coping strategies as they relate to functioning. ⋯ The scales and ratings of the CSQ were factor analyzed to create composite measures, and the ability of the composite scores and individual scales to predict adjustment was compared. The results indicated that the individual scales provided more information than the composite measures regarding the relationship between coping and adjustment to chronic pain. The results also suggested that individual scale scores may be more useful than composite scores in identifying the conditions under which coping efforts have their greatest effects on adjustment.
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This study was designed to examine the central changes in the receptive field properties of dorsal horn neurones induced by a period of visceral noxious stimulation. The aim of this investigation was to establish whether noxious stimulation of the visceral input to the spinal cord could influence transmission of cutaneous information through dorsal horn neurones. Single-unit electrical activity was recorded in the lower thoracic spinal cord of anaesthetized cats from dorsal horn neurones with a somatic receptive field in the ipsilateral flank. ⋯ The increases were large and lasted for at least 20 min. None of the 9 spinal cord neurones without an input from the gall bladder were affected by the conditioning visceral stimulus even though 7 showed changes in receptive field size when the animals were spinalised. These results show that noxious stimulation of viscera can evoke increases in the somatic receptive fields of spinal cord neurones but only of those neurones which are also driven by the visceral stimulus.