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Chronic pain is a significant health problem worldwide with limited pharmacological treatment options. This study evaluated the relative efficacy of four treatment sessions each of four non-pharmacological treatments: (1) hypnotic cognitive therapy (using hypnosis to alter the meaning of pain); (2) standard cognitive therapy; (3) hypnosis focused on pain reduction, and (4) pain education. One hundred seventy-three individuals with chronic pain were randomly assigned to receive four sessions of one of the four treatments. Primary (pain intensity) and secondary outcome measures were administered by assessors unaware of treatment allocation at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up. Treatment effects were evaluated using ANOVA, a generalized estimating equation approach, or a Fisher Exact Test, depending on the outcome domain examined. All four treatments were associated with medium to large effect size improvements in pain intensity that maintained up to 12 months post-treatment. Pre- to post-treatment improvements were observed across the four treatment conditions on the secondary outcomes of pain interference and depressive symptoms, with some return towards pre-treatment levels at 12-months follow-up. No significant between group differences emerged in omnibus analyses, and few statistically significant between-group differences emerged in the planned pairwise analyses, although the two significant effects that did emerge favored hypnotic cognitive therapy. Future research is needed to determine if the significant differences that emerged are reliable.
Learn More >This study examined the cross-sectional associations among pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, and sleep disturbance among patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) and reporting co-occurring chronic pain.
Learn More >The purpose of this review is to discuss the current evidence for acupuncture in migraine and to provide insight into which patients may benefit most from acupuncture.
Learn More >The purpose of this review is to summarize the role of avoidance behavior in headache-related disability and overview relevant clinical implications.
Learn More >Our aim was to investigate the relationship between coexisting cluster headache (CH) and migraine with anxiety and depression during active cluster bouts, and how symptoms change during remission.
Learn More >Depression is a frequent comorbid condition in patients with persistent back pain and is associated with substantial adverse consequences, including the risk of developing opioid use disorders. Shifting the focus from depression treatment to preventing depression might be a viable way to reduce the disease burden.
Learn More >Pain is a common symptom in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and is associated with poor health outcomes, yet additional knowledge about the psychosocial correlates of pain is needed to optimize clinical care. The purpose of this study is to systematically review the psychosocial factors associated with pain and pain impact in youth diagnosed with IBD within a developmentally informed framework.
Learn More >Despite the wide body of research on the properties of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), only a few studies have investigated whether ODI scores can be interpreted similarly in both genders. A few previous studies suggested that the ODI may behave differently in different populations, e.g. in different age groups.
Learn More >Emotional awareness and expression therapy (EAET) emphasizes the importance of the central nervous system and emotional processing in the etiology and treatment of chronic pain. Prior trials suggest EAET can substantially reduce pain; however, only one has compared EAET with an established alternative, demonstrating some small advantages over cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for fibromyalgia. The current trial compared EAET with CBT in older, predominately male, ethnically diverse veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
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