Psychology

Depression, fatigue, and pain commonly co-occur in multiple sclerosis (MS) and are positively associated with one another. However, it is unclear whether treatment-related improvement in one of these symptoms is associated with improvements in the other two symptoms.

Chronic pain (CP) and cognitive decline (CD) are costly, challenging to treat, highly prevalent among older adults, and worsen each other over time. We are iteratively developing Active-Brains-Fitbit (AB-F), a live video program for older adults with CP and CD that teaches mind-body skills and gradual increases in step count aided by a Fitbit. AB-F has demonstrated feasibility, acceptability, and signals of improvement in emotional, physical, and cognitive function when delivered in-person to this population.

Partner's responses to pain behaviours play a pivotal role in the patient's adjustment. This study aims to further our knowledge regarding patients' and partners' interpretation of partners' responses to pain behaviours, and the possible discrepancies between patients' and partners' perceptions. Further, this study examines patients' preferred responses to pain behaviours and possible discrepancies between received and preferred responses to pain behaviours.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact, including on individuals with chronic pain. The social distancing policies necessary to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 have involved increased levels of social isolation. This cross-sectional survey study examined pain severity and interference among individuals with chronic pain during an early phase of social distancing mandates, and identified characteristics of individuals who were most impacted. Approximately 4-8 weeks after social distancing mandates commenced in the state of Massachusetts, 150 patients with fibromyalgia, chronic spine and postsurgical pain completed demographic, pain, social distancing, and validated psychosocial questionnaires. Patients self-reported an overall significant increase in pain severity and pain interference, compared to before social distancing, although both pain severity and interference were quite variable among individuals under conditions of social distancing. Several demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial factors were associated with greater pain severity and interference during social distancing. Multivariable linear regression demonstrated that female gender, non-white race, lower education, disability, fibromyalgia, and higher pain catastrophizing were independently associated with greater pain severity, while female gender and pain catastrophizing were independently associated greater pain interference. The findings suggest that individual differences among chronic pain patients should be considered in the planning, development, and prioritization of interventions to improve pain care and to prevent worsening of symptoms during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Revised Short McGill Pain Questionnaire Version-2 (SF-MPQ-2) is a multidimensional outcome measure designed to capture, evaluate and discriminate pain from neuropathic and non-neuropathic sources. A recent systematic review found insufficient psychometric data with respect to musculoskeletal (MSK) health conditions. This study aimed to describe the reproducibility (test-retest reliability and agreement) and internal consistency of the SF-MPQ-2 for use among patients with musculoskeletal shoulder pain.

The "funnel effect" of Fibromyalgia (FM) assumes that as patients access healthcare services, they present greater severity and a more complex clinical situation than individuals with FM from the general population, but the studies comparing patients treated in different levels of healthcare are scarce. The aim of this study is to analyse the "funnel effect" hypothesis by comparing patients from secondary and tertiary healthcare services.

This study retrospectively investigated psychological factors contributing to chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) in pediatric patients after limb-sparing or amputation surgery for extremity osteosarcoma. Psychological factors were identified and analyzed by the Wilcoxon rank-sum and median two-sample tests. Univariate and multivariate Cox regressions were performed using gender, age, psychological factors, and psychological interventions related to CPSP duration as covariates. Duration of pain treatment was significantly longer in patients resistant to psychological interventions (p = 0.01) than those receptive to interventions. Shorter duration of pain treatment was associated with older age (p = 0.03) and receptiveness to psychological interventions (HR = 4.19, 95% CI [1.22, 14.35]). Older age and receptiveness to psychological interventions as part of pain management care are associated with needing a shorter duration of pain treatment. Our results highlight the importance of prospective investigations evaluating motivation to engage in psychotherapy and psychological interventions and identify risk factors for CPSP in pediatric oncology.

Randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow up.

We previously demonstrated that automated, Web-based pain coping skills training (PCST) can reduce osteoarthritis pain. The present secondary analyses examined whether this program also changed coping strategies participants identified for use in hypothetical pain-related situations.