Journal of psychosomatic research
-
Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is a debilitating pain condition with prevalence rates between 2.0% and 26.6%. Studies indicate that CPPS is often associated with psychosocial factors, but little is known about the presence of full-blown mental disorders in female and male patients with CPPS. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the frequencies of mental disorders in patients with CPPS. ⋯ Our results provide evidence for a clinically relevant psychosocial symptom burden in patients with CPPS, indicating the need for the examination of psychopathologies and multi-professional treatment for this patient group.
-
Research shows that African American (AA) adults experience more severe and frequent pain compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) adults. Additionally, experimental studies demonstrate that AA adults exhibit less efficient central pain inhibition compared to NHW adults, which may partially explain the racial/ethnic disparities in pain. Evidence suggests that regular physical activity (PA) may help improve central pain inhibition, but research shows that AA adults engage in less PA, and are less likely to meet PA guidelines for health promotion compared to NHW adults. These observations suggest that PA levels may help better understand the racial/ethnic difference in central pain inhibition. Therefore, this study compared central pain inhibition and PA levels among AA and NHW adults. ⋯ Young, healthy, and physically active AA and NHW adults exhibit similar CPM responses. Regular PA may help attenuate the racial/ethnic difference in CPM responses.