Pain
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Multicenter Study
COMPLEXITY, COMORBIDITY AND HEALTHCARE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC WIDESPREAD PAIN IN PRIMARY CARE.
The objective was to estimate the prevalence of chronic widespread pain (CWP) and compare the quality-of-life (QoL), cardiovascular risk factors, comorbidity, complexity, and health costs with the reference population. A multicenter case-control study was conducted at 3 primary care centers in Barcelona between January and December 2012: 3048 randomized patients were evaluated for CWP according to the American College of Rheumatology definition. Questionnaires on pain, QoL, disability, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality were administered. ⋯ In conclusion, the average patient with CWP has a worse QoL and a greater burden of mental health disorders and cardiovascular risk. The average annual cost associated with CWP is nearly 3 times higher than that of patients without CWP, controlling for other clinical factors. These findings have implications for disease management and budgetary considerations.
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Sleep and pain are thought to be bidirectional related on a daily basis in adolescents with chronic pain complaints. In addition, sleep problems have been shown to predict the long-term onset of musculoskeletal pain in middle-aged adults. Yet, the long-term effects of sleep problems on pain duration and different types of pain severity in emerging adults (age: 18-25) are unknown. ⋯ This prospective effect was stronger in females than in males and was mediated by fatigue but not by symptoms of anxiety and depression or physical inactivity. Only abdominal pain had a small long-term effect on sleep problems. Our results suggest that sleep problems may be an additional target for treatment in female emerging adults with musculoskeletal pain complaints.
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Patients with functional pain disorders often complain of generalized sensory hypersensitivity, finding sounds, smells, or even everyday light aversive. The neural basis for this aversion is unknown, but it cannot be attributed to a general increase in cortical sensory processing. Here, we quantified the threshold for aversion to light in patients with fibromyalgia, a pain disorder thought to reflect dysregulation of pain-modulating systems in the brain. ⋯ Light exposure also resulted in a measurable but modest decrease in the threshold for heat-evoked paw withdrawal, as would be expected with engagement of this pain-modulating circuitry. These data demonstrate integration of information about light intensity with somatic input at the level of single pain-modulating neurons in the brain stem of the rat under basal conditions. Taken together, our findings in rodents and humans provide a novel mechanism for abnormal photosensitivity and suggest that light has the potential to engage pain-modulating systems such that normally innocuous inputs are perceived as aversive or even painful.