The Clinical journal of pain
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Chronic pain is prevalent in many Western countries. Its prevalence in a non-Caucasian population is not known. The authors performed this study to measure the prevalence of chronic pain in the Hong Kong Chinese adult population, as well as the pattern of pain and the demographic characteristics, the impact on social and work function, and the help-seeking behavior of those with pain. ⋯ The study showed that the prevalence of chronic pain in Hong Kong adults was approximately 10.8%. Work and daily life are significantly affected and there is considerable demand on the health care system. Despite the ethnic difference, the prevalence, pattern, and demographic characteristics of chronic pain in Hong Kong are very similar to those seen in Western countries.
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This study examined the relation between level of educational achievement (LOE) and the clinical morbidity associated with chronic pain. ⋯ After controlling for relevant covariates, LOE was unrelated to pain intensity, severity of depressive symptoms, or affective distress, but was inversely related to self-reported disability. Persons with lower LOEs possessed a greater belief that pain is a "signal of harm," unrelated to emotional experience, disabling and uncontrollable. They also endorsed more passive and maladaptive coping strategies, including a tendency to catastrophize about their pain. Path analysis indicated that, after controlling for the influence of both the belief that pain is a "signal of harm" and catastrophizing on the association between LOE and disability, this relation loses statistical significance. These results suggest that pain-related cognitions mediate the relation between LOE and pain disability and that persons with lower LOEs are more likely to develop maladaptive pain beliefs and coping strategies.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Does postoperative pain induce emesis?
The aim of this prospective, controlled study was to evaluate the risk factors for postoperative emesis in patients undergoing gynecologic surgery and receiving patient-controlled analgesia for three days. ⋯ The results suggested that postoperative pain was an associative risk factor to increase the incidence of emesis in these female patients.