European journal of pain : EJP
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We argue that in all randomized controlled trials that investigate treatments for chronic pain emotional distress should be reported. In a majority of cases, pain intensity and pain-related disability are measured, yet-despite guidelines to the contrary-pain-related distress is not included. We suggest that the new extension code for chronic pain as incorporated in the ICD-11 will be well suited to fill this gap at minute additional effort for the participants.
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Children of parents with chronic pain are a high-risk group to develop own chronic pain. There is evidence that parental responses such as catastrophizing and solicitousness play an important role in the familial transmission of chronic pain. However, little is known about factors that modulate these responses. Based on the literature, we assumed that top-down processes, such as parent chronic pain and anxiety, would be associated with increased catastrophizing and solicitousness. Bottom-up processes, such as child chronic pain and anxiety, were assumed to moderate this association. ⋯ This study increases our knowledge on modulating factors on maladaptive parental reactions such as parental pain-related catastrophizing towards their children in pain. According to our findings, it is not the child variables, that is (parental perception of) child chronic pain or anxiety that modulate parental reactions but parent factors, particularly parent anxiety. Thus, parent anxiety should be regularly assessed and addressed during pain treatment of adult populations, and in interventional studies in children with chronic pain and their parents with chronic pain and anxiety symptoms.
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Ample evidence suggests that individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) exhibit hyposensitivity to pain. Since the underlying mechanism of the pain hyposensitivity is unknown, we tested here for the first time whether this hyposensitivity is pain specific or exists also for innocuous sensation, and whether it is associated with enhanced descending pain modulation capabilities. ⋯ On the basis of testing pronociceptive and antinociceptive components among individuals with BPD and healthy controls, this study reveals enhanced ability to inhibit pain among woman with borderline personality disorder (BPD) which may underlie hyposensitivity to both noxious and innocuous stimuli and perhaps also self-injurious behaviour among these individuals. The study contributes novel information on possible mechanisms involved in BPD manifestations.
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Review Randomized Controlled Trial Meta Analysis
Efficacy and harms of long-term opioid therapy in chronic non-cancer pain: Systematic review and meta-analysis of open-label extension trials with a study duration ≥ 26 weeks.
This updated systematic review evaluated the efficacy, acceptability and safety of long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP). ⋯ There is very low quality evidence of the long-term efficacy, tolerability and safety of opioids for chronic low back, osteoarthritis and diabetic polyneuropathic pain within the context of open-label extension studies of randomized controlled trials. Drop out rate due to adverse events and deaths increase with study duration. One-third of patients profit from LTOT. Long-term opioid therapy can be considered in some carefully selected and monitored patients.
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Recognition of pain in people with dementia is challenging. Observational scales have been developed, but there is a need to harmonize and improve the assessment process. In EU initiative COST-Action TD1005, 36 promising items were selected from existing scales to be tested further. We aimed to study the observer agreement of each item, and to analyse the factor structure of the complete set. ⋯ In this international project, promising items from existing observational pain scales were identified and evaluated regarding their reliability as an alternative to pain self-report in people with dementia. Analysis on factor structure helped to understand the character of the items. Health professionals from four countries using four different European languages were able to rate items reliably. The results contributed to an informed reduction of items for a clinical observer scale (Pain Assessment in Impaired Cognition scale with 15 items: PAIC15).