European journal of pain : EJP
-
Leisure time physical activity is recommended for preventing long-term sickness absence (LTSA). Although low back pain (LBP) is a risk factor for sickness absence and physical activity is recommended for people with LBP, it is unknown if leisure time physical activity prevents LTSA among persons with different levels of LBP. ⋯ Leisure time physical activity is a strong predictive factor on LTSA among female healthcare workers with no and non-chronic LBP, but not among those with more persistent LBP.
-
Although many studies have explored gender role expectations of pain behaviours in different cultures, only a few authors have tried to explore whether certain pains are more associated with the typical man or woman. Hence, this study aimed at exploring, among Portuguese laypeople and nurses, patterns of common pains more strongly associated with the typical man or woman, and their relationship with health-care training and personal pain experiences. ⋯ This study identified different gendered patterns of common pains, which may have important implications for (wo)men's pain experiences and how these are interpreted by others.
-
Management of acute pain related to surgical intervention, termed post-operative pain or POP, continues to be a major healthcare challenge. While the rat plantar incision model provides valuable data to researchers about the mechanisms mediating POP, the development of topical and localized treatments in small animal models is limited. To help address these issues, we describe here the characterization of a large animal model of incisional pain. ⋯ We propose that the pig model of incisional pain can provide an appropriate translational model for validating new topical and localized treatments for POP in humans.
-
Cross-sectional studies have shown that chronic musculoskeletal pain and somatic symptoms are frequently reported by sexual assault (SA) survivors; however, prospective studies examining pain and somatic symptoms in the months after SA have not been performed. ⋯ New and/or clinically worsening pain and somatic symptoms, lasting at least 3 months, are sequelae of SA. Further studies investigating pain and somatic symptoms after SA are needed.
-
Biological and psychological predictors of visceral pain sensitivity in healthy premenopausal women.
Factors that are associated with pain perception remain incompletely understood, especially in the visceral pain field. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate possible psychological and biological predictors of visceral pain sensitivity in healthy subjects. ⋯ Similar to findings in patients with functional GI symptoms, we showed that subclinical GI symptoms predict visceral pain sensitivity. In line with somatic pain findings, state but not trait anxiety was found to predict visceral pain sensitivity. Our finding on serum cortisol as positive predictor of pain sensitivity might be interpreted in light of immunosuppressive effects of cortisol. Our finding on the role of IL-6 in GI symptoms is promising for understanding GI complaints in patients and needs further investigation.