European journal of pain : EJP
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Treatment with staphylococcus toxoid in fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome--a randomised controlled trial.
We have previously conducted a small treatment study on staphylococcus toxoid in fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The aim of the present study was to further assess the efficacy of the staphylococcus toxoid preparation Staphypan Berna (SB) during 6 months in FM/CFS patients. One hundred consecutively referred patients fulfilling the ACR criteria for FM and the 1994 CDC criteria for CFS were randomised to receive active drug or placebo. ⋯ An increase in CPRS symptoms at withdrawal was noted in the SB group. In conclusion, treatment with staphylococcus toxoid injections over 6 months led to significant improvement in patients with FM and CFS. Maintenance treatment is required to prevent relapse.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Differential effectiveness of psychological interventions for reducing osteoarthritis pain: a comparison of Erikson [correction of Erickson] hypnosis and Jacobson relaxation.
The present study investigates the effectiveness of Erikson hypnosis and Jacobson relaxation for the reduction of osteoarthritis pain. Participants reporting pain from hip or knee osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: (a) hypnosis (i.e. standardized eight-session hypnosis treatment); (b) relaxation (i.e. standardized eight sessions of Jacobson's relaxation treatment); (c) control (i.e. waiting list). Overall, results show that the two experimental groups had a lower level of subjective pain than the control group and that the level of subjective pain decreased with time. ⋯ Results also show that hypnosis and relaxation are effective in reducing the amount of analgesic medication taken by participants. Finally, the present results suggest that individual differences in imagery moderate the effect of the psychological treatment at the 6 month follow-up but not at previous times of measurement (i.e. after 4 weeks of treatment, after 8 weeks of treatment and at the 3 month follow-up). The results are interpreted in terms of psychological processes underlying hypnosis, and their implications for the psychological treatment of pain are discussed.
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Treatment satisfaction is an increasingly popular outcome measure in pain management. While it is a subjective variable, it may nonetheless reflect the quality of care and it may predict other important patient behaviors. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate predictors of satisfaction with treatment for chronic pain. ⋯ Changes in pain, depression, and pain-related anxiety were associated with treatment satisfaction but change in pain was a relatively weak predictor. Nine of the 16 characteristics of the patient's clinic experience correlated with treatment satisfaction. Regression analyses showed that the strongest unique predictors of treatment satisfaction were the patients feeling their evaluation was complete, believing they received an explanation for clinic procedures, and finding that treatment helped them improve their daily activity.
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The aim of this study was to describe the Quality of Life and pain coping strategies of school children in relation to headache severity. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 2815 children between the age of 9 and 17 years, who filled out Waters' Headache Questionnaire (WHQ), the Paediatric Pain Assessment Tool (PPAT), the Quality of Life Headache in Youth (QLH-Y) questionnaire and the Pain Coping Questionnaire (PCQ) in the class-room setting. ⋯ Results show that children with the highest headache severity report the lowest Quality of Life in general and the lowest Quality of Health, as well as the most problems with regard to physical functioning, impact of headache on daily and leisure activities, physical symptoms other than headache, and social functioning at home. With regard to using pain coping strategies, children with the most severe headaches seek more social support, they internalize and externalize more, they use less behavioural and cognitive distraction techniques, and seek information less.