Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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A single score that represents the multidimensionality of pain would be an innovation for patient-reported outcomes. Our aim was to determine the reliability, validity, and sensitivity of the Composite Pain Index (CPI). ⋯ Findings support the CPI as a score that integrates the multidimensional pain experience in people with cancer. It could be used as a patient-reported outcome measure to quantify the complexity of pain in clinical research and population studies of cancer pain and studied for relevance in other pain populations.
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A bidirectional relationship between working memory (WM) and acute pain has long been assumed, but equivocal evidence exists regarding this relationship. This study characterized the relationship between WM and acute pain processing in healthy individuals using an adapted Sternberg WM task. ⋯ Pain perception appears to decrease as a function of WM load only for sufficiently noxious stimuli. However, increasing noxious stimuli did not affect cognitive performance. These complex relationships may reflect a shared cognitive space that can become "overloaded" with input of multiple stimuli of sufficient intensity.
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Given their ability to process highly dimensional datasets with hundreds of variables, machine learning algorithms may offer one solution to the vexing challenge of predicting postoperative pain. ⋯ Machine learning algorithms, when combined with complex and heterogeneous data from electronic medical record systems, can forecast acute postoperative pain outcomes with accuracies similar to methods that rely only on variables specifically collected for pain outcome prediction.
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Estimate the prevalence and healthcare costs of undiagnosed opioid abuse among commercially insured individuals. ⋯ Per-patient healthcare costs of undiagnosed abusers among the commercially insured are estimated to be lower than those of diagnosed abusers. However, the higher prevalence of undiagnosed opioid abuse implies that undiagnosed abuse represents a substantial burden to commercial payers.
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There is little research in Southeast Asia focusing on patients' experiences of seeking psychological treatment for chronic pain. ⋯ Education for both patients and health professionals unfamiliar with psychological treatments for pain may improve access to these treatments.