The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Exploring the Role of Negative Cognitions in the Relationship Between Ethnicity, Sleep, and Pain in Women With Temporomandibular Joint Disorder.
Negative cognitions are central to the perpetuation of chronic pain and sleep disturbances. Patients with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD), a chronic pain condition characterized by pain and limitation in the jaw area, have a high comorbidity of sleep disturbances that possibly exacerbate their condition. Ethnic group differences are documented in pain, sleep, and coping, yet the mechanisms driving these differences are still unclear, especially in clinical pain populations. ⋯ These findings identify pain catastrophizing as a potentially important link between ethnicity and clinical pain and suggest that interventions targeting pain-related helplessness could improve both sleep and pain, especially for African American patients. Perspective:Pain-related helplessness and insomnia severity contribute to ethnic differences found in clinical pain among woman with TMJD. Findings can potentially inform interventions that target insomnia and catastrophizing to assist in reducing ethnic disparities in clinical pain.
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Spouse attributions regarding displays of pain behaviors by their partners with chronic pain may account for subsequent increases in spouse critical/hostile responses toward their partners. People with chronic low back pain (n = 105) and their pain-free spouses (n = 105) completed electronic diary measures 5 times per day for 14 consecutive days. Key items assessed spouse observations of patient pain behavior, attributions regarding these behaviors, and spouse critical/hostile responses toward patients. ⋯ A vital factor linking spouse scrutiny to spouse critical/hostile responses may be the spouse's ascribed reasons for the patient's grimacing, bracing, complaining, and so forth. Perspective: Results indicate that spouse internal and negative attributions for pain behaviors of their partners with chronic pain may influence subsequent spouse critical/hostile reactions to them. Findings suggest that replacing spouse internal and negative attributions with external, compassionate, and accepting explanations may be useful therapeutic targets for couples coping with chronic pain.
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It is widely believed that cortical changes are a consequence of longstanding neuropathic pain (NP). In this article, we demonstrate that NP in individuals with subacute spinal cord injury (SCI) has characteristic electroencephalography markers (EEG) that precede the onset of pain. EEG was recorded in a relaxed state and during motor imagination tasks in 10 able-bodied participants and 31 patients with subacute SCI (11 with NP, 10 without NP, and 10 who had pain develop within 6 months of EEG recording). ⋯ Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT02178917 PERSPECTIVE: We demonstrate that brain activity in patients with subacute SCI reveals both early markers and predictors of NP, which may manifest before sensory discomfort. These markers and predictors may complement known sensory phenotypes of NP. They may exist in other patient groups suffering from NP of central origin.