Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Pain intensity ratings have been the basis of pain diagnosis and a fundamental tool in pain research, but are not always used. Frequent comments by physicians that pain ratings, sometimes called pain scores, are not useful in clinical practice and comments by basic scientists that pain ratings may measure the wrong thing, have been in significant part supported by a short survey conducted among members of American Pain Society (APS). Though limited by small number of respondents, the findings of this survey and additional comments by members of APS raise critical questions about why pain ratings do not serve the clinical communities. These findings send an urgent call to the pain community to reassess the status of currently used pain ratings and to find solutions to this fundamental issue.
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Meta Analysis
Efficacy and Safety of Duloxetine on Osteoarthritis Knee Pain: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of duloxetine for management of osteoarthritis knee (OAK) pain. ⋯ This analysis suggests duloxetine (60/120 mg quaque die (QD)), compared with placebo control, resulted in a greater reduction in pain, improved function and patient-rated impression of improvement, and acceptable adverse effects for the treatment of OAK pain after approximately 10-13 weeks of treatment.
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Multicenter Study
Physical Functioning and Opioid use in Patients with Neuropathic Pain.
To evaluate the association between opioid dosage and ongoing therapy with physical function and disability in patients with neuropathic pain (NeP). ⋯ Physical functioning and disability did not improve in patients with NeP who were prescribed opioids compared with those who are not prescribed, even after adjusting for disease severity.
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Using a large sample of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors we 1) describe pain interference (PI) prevalence across the cancer continuum; 2) identify demographic and clinical factors associated with PI and changes in PI; and 3) examine PI's relationship with survivors' job changes. ⋯ Almost half of survivors with PI during the initial phase of care had continued PI into post-treatment. Comorbidities, especially cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions, contributed to continued PI. PI may be related to continuing normal activities, that is, work, after completed treatment.
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Preliminary evidence suggests that chronic pain patients complete pain intensity measures using idiosyncratic methods. Our objective was to understand these methods and how they might impact the psychometric properties of the instruments. ⋯ The themes discovered suggest that patients include sensations and experiences other than pain intensity in their ratings, experience the rating of pain as a comparative task, and do not use the scale in a linear manner. These themes are relevant to understanding the validity and scale properties of commonly used pain intensity measures.