The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Exploring the relationship between underlying pain mechanisms and physical activity could inform interventions to optimize physical activity in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). This cross-sectional nationwide survey examined whether pain phenotype is a significant predictor of self-reported physical activity in PwMS. The study included 938 persons with a self-reported diagnosis of MS (93% reported neurologist-diagnosed MS) who completed surveys of demographic, clinical information, pain intensity, indicators of underlying pain mechanisms (Fibromyalgia Survey Criteria and painDETECT), and physical activity (Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire). ⋯ This suggests that assessing pain phenotype may be important to identify individuals at risk of inadequate physical activity and may guide the tailoring of behavioral therapeutic approaches to help PwMS achieve the recommended level of physical activity. PERSPECTIVE: This study examines the association between pain mechanism and physical activity in multiple sclerosis. These findings highlight the possibility that a basic screening for pain mechanism could offer clinically useful information without requiring extensive neurobiological phenotyping and may inform the development of behavioral interventions to enhance physical activity in multiple sclerosis.
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People experience similarities between emotional feelings and bodily states on a daily basis, but both the magnitude and pervasiveness of this experiential similarity vary across individuals. Inspired by previous findings that chronic pain (CP) is characterized by strengthened pain-affect coupling and reduced interoceptive accuracy, we conducted 2 cross-sectional studies to examine whether patients with CP would exhibit less differentiated perception and mental representation of emotional feelings and bodily states. In study 1 (N = 500), patients with CP and healthy controls (HCs) completed a self-report questionnaire that asked explicitly about the perceived similarity between 5 basic emotion categories and a series of bodily states. ⋯ Our findings extend previous literature by demonstrating reduced discrimination between emotional and bodily experiences in CP that is not restricted to pain-related emotional and sensory experiences and may be related to a fundamentally less differentiated interoception. PERSPECTIVES: This study shows that patients with chronic pain have a profoundly less differentiated perception and implicit conceptualization of emotional feelings and bodily states, which appears to be associated with altered interoception. These findings may provide new perspectives on why they often experience a stronger pain-affect coupling.
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Cross-national research using data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey showed an increase in the prevalence of chronic back pain from 2002 to 2014. However, it is unknown if this trend has persisted beyond 2014. The aims of this study were to 1) determine if the prevalence of chronic back pain in girls and boys aged 11, 13, and 15 continued to increase from 2014 to 2018 and if this was the case, 2) examine whether this increase in the prevalence of chronic back pain between 2002 and 2018 was explained indirectly by increases in sleep difficulties and psychological symptoms. ⋯ The findings provide important information that may aid stakeholders in enhancing public health initiatives to prevent or reduce the increasing trend in the prevalence of chronic back pain in adolescents. PERSPECTIVE: This study shows that chronic back pain prevalence continues to increase among adolescents, with sleep difficulties and psychological symptoms contributing significantly to this trend. The findings provide insights that may inform strategies to prevent or reduce the increasing trend of chronic back pain in adolescents.
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Persistent pain conditions and sleep disorders are public health problems worldwide. It is widely accepted that sleep disruption increases pain sensitivity; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In this study, we used a protocol of 6 hours a day of total sleep deprivation for 3 days in rats to advance the understanding of these mechanisms. ⋯ These findings narrow the focus of future studies on the mechanisms by which sleep impairment increases pain sensitivity. PERSPECTIVE: This study demonstrates that the pronociceptive effect of SR affects similarly males and females and depends on a NAc neuronal ensemble recruited during SR and on the integrity of the ACC. Findings on dopaminergic function support dopamine D2 receptors as targets for pain management in sleep disorders patients.