Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Most studies done with Hispanics illustrate their preference for self-management practices; therefore, examining the factors driving patients to seek medical care for pain management will help elucidate what patients want and need from their doctors for pain management. The aim of the present study was to obtain patients' perspectives and enhance our understanding of the cultural beliefs influencing pain management decisions of foreign-born Spanish-speaking Hispanics with low acculturation. ⋯ Our findings are consistent with previous reports on Hispanics' preference for self-care practices. Perhaps foreign-born Hispanics may rely on self-care practices and delay medical attention for pain management because of their unfamiliarity with the US health care system. Other potential explanations for a reliance on self-care for pain management involve patients having a limited understanding of or access to effective treatment options for chronic pain and negative experiences with US medical providers.
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Studies on relationships between sex, ethnicity, and pain have largely emanated from the United States and Europe. We compared cold (CPT) and pressure pain tolerance (PPT) in male and female South Africans of African and European ancestry and assessed whether psychosocial factors (including pain beliefs) predicted differences in pain tolerance. ⋯ Despite different cultural and social backgrounds from US and European cohorts, we saw similar patterns of sex and ethnic differences in CPT and PPT in an African cohort. Traditional psychosocial predictors of pain sensitivity predicted variation in the outcome variables but were not strong predictors.
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Authors, readers, and editors share a common focus. Authors want to publish their work. Readers want to see high-quality, new information. ⋯ Instead, it describes and explains, step by step, the critical components of an article, what authors should include, and what readers should look for, so that the Journal can ensure that consistent, high-quality information is shared between its authors and readers. The present article focuses on articles concerning treatment of pain, largely because this type of article is more commonly submitted than articles on reliability or validity of diagnostic procedures. Although the present article principally focuses on papers for the Spine Section of the Journal, the same principles, appropriately adapted, serve for other sections.
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Addressing disparities in low back pain care (LBP) is an important yet largely unaddressed issue. One avenue to addressing disparities, recommended by clinical guidelines, is to ensure that LBP information is culturally appropriate. Our objectives were, first, to develop LBP information that was culturally appropriate for Aboriginal Australians living in a rural area and, second, to compare this to traditional information. ⋯ The MBOT information was more preferred and addressed important barriers to care, providing support for use in practice. Similar processes are needed to develop pain information for other cultural groups, particularly those underserved by existing approaches to care.
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Comparative Study
Comparison Between Chronic Migraine and Temporomandibular Disorders in Pain-Related Disability and Fear-Avoidance Behaviors.
To compare patients with chronic migraine (CM) and chronic temporomandibular disorders (TMD) on disability, pain, and fear avoidance factors and to associate these variables within groups. ⋯ Differences between the CM group and the chronic TMD group were found in craniofacial pain and disability, pain catastrophizing, and headache impact, but they were similar for pain intensity, neck disability, and kinesiophobia. Neck disability and kinesiophobia were covariates of craniofacial pain and disability (34% of variance) for chronic TMD. In the CM group, neck disability was a predictive factor for headache impact (19.3% of variance).