Articles: pain-clinics.
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There is an urgent need for safe and effective nonpharmacologic approaches to treat chronic knee pain in older adults. Although virtual reality (VR) has shown some effectiveness for acute pain, there is limited evidence on the effects of VR on chronic pain particularly with older adult populations. This single application, within-subject pilot study evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of VR as a clinical treatment for older adults with chronic osteoarthritis knee pain. ⋯ The findings also suggest VR meditation intervention had a positive effect on affect, with a significant large decrease in negative affect scores pre- to post-VR (d = 1.14). The significant moderate to large decreases in pain interference for normal work (d = 0.71), mood (d = 0.53), sleep (d = 0.67), and enjoyment of life (d = 0.72) suggest that older adults may have a higher ability to participate in meaningful daily activities up to 24-48 h after VR meditation. VR appears to be a feasible and effective nonpharmacological tool for older adults to treat chronic overall and knee-specific pain.
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Review Meta Analysis
A Meta-analysis of the Associations of Elements of the Fear-Avoidance Model of Chronic Pain with Negative Affect, Depression, Anxiety, Pain-related Disability and Pain Intensity.
Biopsychosocial conceptualizations of clinical pain conditions recognize the multi-faceted nature of pain experience and its intersection with mental health. A primary cognitive-behavioural framework is the Fear-Avoidance Model, which posits that pain catastrophizing and fear of pain (including avoidance, cognitions and physiological reactivity) are key antecedents to, and drivers of, pain intensity and disability, in addition to pain-related psychological distress. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the magnitude of the cross-sectional association between the primary components of the Fear-Avoidance Model (pain catastrophizing, fear of pain, pain vigilance) with negative affect, anxiety, depression, pain intensity and disabilities in studies of clinical pain. ⋯ This meta-analysis reveals that, among individuals with various pain conditions, pain catastrophizing, fear of pain, and pain vigilance have medium to large associations with pain- related negative affect, anxiety, and depression, pain intensity and disability. Differences in the strength of the associations depend on the type of self-report tool used to assess fear of pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Effect of Duloxetine on Mechanistic Pain Profiles, Cognitive Factors, and Clinical Pain in Patients with Painful Knee Osteoarthritis - A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study.
Duloxetine is indicated in the management of pain in osteoarthritis. Evidence suggests that duloxetine modulates central pain mechanisms and cognitive factors, and these factors are assumed contributing to the analgesic effect. This proof-of-mechanism, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover, double-blinded trial evaluated the effect of duloxetine on quantitative sensory testing (QST), cognitive factors and clinical pain in patients with osteoarthritis and to predict the analgesic effect. ⋯ Duloxetine is proposed as a treatment for chronic pain. Pre-clinical trials suggest that duloxetine provides analgesia through modulation of descending pain inhibitory pathways or through improvements in cognitive factors. The current study demonstrates that pretreatment mechanistic pain profiling, cognitive factors and clinical pain can predict the analgesic effect of duloxetine and that only a subset of patients might benefit from duloxetine treatment.
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Adolescent pain is common and continues into adulthood, leading to negative long-term outcomes including substance-related morbidity: an empirical definition of its construct may inform the early detection of persistent pain trajectories. These secondary analyses of a classical twin study assessed whether headaches, back pains, abdominal pain, chest pains, stabbing/throbbing pain, and gastric pain/nausea, measured in 501 pairs across 5 waves between age 12 and 17 years, fit a unitary construct or constitute independent manifestations. We then assessed which symptoms were associated with a steady, "frequent pain" trajectory that is associated with risk for early opioid prescriptions. ⋯ The highest area under the curve was attained by "back pain" at age 14 years (0.835); for multiple cut-off thresholds of symptom frequency, "back pain" showed good sensitivity/false alarm probability trade-offs, predominantly in the 13 to 15 years age range, to predict the "frequent pain" trajectory. These data support a unitary conceptualization and assessment of adolescent pain, which is advantageous for epidemiological, clinical, and translational purposes. Persistent back pain constitutes a sensitive indicator of a steady trajectory of adolescent pain.