Scandinavian journal of pain
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Objective Insomnia is the most commonly diagnosed comorbidity disorder among patients with chronic pain. This circumstance requests brief and valid instruments for screening insomnia in epidemiological studies. The main object of this study was to assess the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Swedish version of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). ⋯ An important clinical implication is that the four-item Swedish Insomnia Severity Index can be used in chronic pain cohorts when screening for insomnia problems. Its measurement and structural invariance property across the two sexes shows that the ISI-4 is a valid measure of the insomnia across groups of chronic patients. Our results also suggest its utility both in pain clinical practice and research purposes.
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Background and aims The clinical management of chronic neuropathic pain remains a global health challenge. Current treatments are either ineffective, or associated with unwanted side-effects. The development of effective, safe therapies requires the identification of novel therapeutic targets using clinically relevant animal models of neuropathic pain. ⋯ Conclusion The observation that levels of PPARα protein were increased in ipsilateral spinal cord of neuropathic rats supports a contribution of spinal sites of action mediating the effects of systemic WY-14643. Our data suggests that the inhibitory effects of a PPARα agonist on spinal neuronal responses may account, at least in part, for their analgesic effects of in neuropathic pain. Implication Selective activation of PPARα in the spinal cord may be therapeutically relevant for the treatment of neuropathic pain.
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Background and aims Pain is known to be a subjective experience yet the majority of pain related research does not address the lived experience of the condition. Difficult to diagnose, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is often poorly managed. The aim of this paper was to identify and synthesise the currently available literature on experiences of living with chronic pain in order to understand where and how CRPS research may be best situated in the future. ⋯ There appears to be a clear indication that research needs to be conducted into CRPS from a lived experience perspective in order to provide information to patients, the general public, health practitioners and policy makers of previously unknown characteristics of this condition which may improve health outcomes for this patient cohort. It has been identified that patients and their families should be active participants in education of health practitioners and in providing information to inform the development of National Pain Strategies currently being devised throughout the world. Implications Research into the lived experience of chronic pain conditions, and CRPS in particular, can help to provide information to enhance understanding enabling national pain strategies and future treatment guidelines strategies to be devised appropriately.