Pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A randomized, controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy for chronic pain.
Individuals reporting chronic, nonmalignant pain for at least 6 months (N=114) were randomly assigned to 8 weekly group sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) after a 4-6 week pretreatment period and were assessed after treatment and at 6-month follow-up. The protocols were designed for use in a primary care rather than specialty pain clinic setting. ⋯ Although there were no differences in attrition between the groups, ACT participants who completed treatment reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction than did CBT participants. These findings suggest that ACT is an effective and acceptable adjunct intervention for patients with chronic pain.
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Comparative Study
Sex differences in perceived pain are affected by an anxious brain.
Decades of research confirm that women have greater pain sensitivity than men. Women also show greater overall anxiety sensitivity than men. Given these differences, we hypothesized that sex differences in anxiety would explain sex differences in experienced pain and physiological responses to pain (at both spinal and cortical levels). ⋯ This means that stable predispositions to respond with heightened apprehension contribute to baseline pain sensitivity differences between the sexes. These results indicate that the modulatory effect of affect on pain-related brain processes may explain why men and women experience painful shocks so differently. In our study, the mediating role of anxiety on sex differences in pain was tested and confirmed using path analysis.