The Clinical journal of pain
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To investigate the correlates of a recent history of disabling low back pain (LBP) in older persons. ⋯ Our study supports the link between disabling LBP and other age-related chronic conditions in a middle-income country with a rapidly aging population.
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The aim of this study was to identify associations between early care decisions and long-term opioid (LTO) use in opioid-naïve patients with a new physician consultation for low back pain (LBP) at which an opioid was prescribed. ⋯ Early care decisions were predictive of LTO use following a new LBP consultation at which opioids were prescribed. Our results support recommendations to avoid concurrent benzodiazepine prescribing and to consider other evidence-based pain treatments such as physical therapy early, particularly for patients at high risk for LTO use or misuse.
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Many psychopharmacologic agents are used as primary or adjuncts in pain management. Atypical antipsychotics (AAs) have also been used as adjuncts in pain management regimens in a variety of manners; however, their efficacy in this capacity is unclear. ⋯ Few studies have been conducted to evaluate the analgesic effects of AAs. The collective findings of multiple studies evaluating olanzapine in pain syndromes suggest a high, yet preliminary level of evidence of efficacy, warranting prospective studies in various pain syndrome contexts. Pharmacological mechanisms of AA action are elaborated, and the findings of this review are discussed. Risk and benefits of using AAs in chronic pain are described, and investigational implications and future directions are explored.
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Low back pain (LBP) is the most commonly reported chronic pain condition. In this study, a clinically relevant, induced-LBP paradigm was used to study sensory processing as a risk factor and predictor for LBP development in healthy people. Our aim was to examine sensory processing in those who do develop LBP and those who do not develop LBP with the paradigm, and to examine the relationships between scores on psychosocial questionnaires and sensory processing measures in these healthy people. ⋯ These results provide evidence that altered sensory processing was not present in healthy people and thus is not a risk factor for development of LBP in standing.
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Chronic pain exerts a pervasive negative influence on workers' productivity. However, a paucity of research has addressed the mechanisms underlying the pain → productivity relation. In the present study using intensive daily diary data, we examined whether working memory (WM) moderates the positive within-person associations between (1) morning pain intensity and (2) morning negative affect (NA) and later day pain's interference of work-goal (WG) pursuit. ⋯ WM appears to protect goal-relevant information from distractions due to negative affective arousal. The continued use of ecologically valid observational and intervention studies would shed further light on the influence of WM on the pursuit of valued work goals in the face of pain and negative affect.