Pain research & management : the journal of the Canadian Pain Society = journal de la société canadienne pour le traitement de la douleur
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Although health professionals are usually familiar with factitious disorders, evaluating such cases may be complicated, particularly in the legal arena. This article describes a patient who presented with pain complaints to numerous doctors. ⋯ Factitious disorder and the doctor's prescription of pain medications were issues raised during the trial. In view of the issue of harm, physicians' responsibilities and limitations during ongoing medical care are addressed in this case report.
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To further develop an empirically based classification system for chronic pain patients through the examination of age and sex differences, and incorporation of pain duration in the grouping algorithm. ⋯ There are important age and sex differences in the clinical presentations of chronic pain patients. Some older patients present with unique clinical profiles that may reflect cohort differences, and/or physiological or psychological adjustment processes. There appears to be a greater number of distinct chronic pain presentations among females. Research on the classification of chronic pain patients within homogeneous diagnostic subgroups is needed.