Browse by Audience
Migraine leads to moderate to severe disabilities and disrupts family life, interpersonal relationships, and professional life, and is the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Many people with migraine suffer prolonged headaches and frequent migraine attacks, transition to having chronic migraine, and have the highest number of disability-adjusted life-years. The aim of this study is to measure the quality of life in migraineurs based on the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire.
Learn More >Painful diabetic polyneuropathy is one of the most common disabling problems worldwide. We aimed to determine if a perineural injection of hypertonic saline compared with foot acupoints decreased the neuropathic pain score in patients with diabetes. Patients were assigned to receive either perineural or acupoints injection of hypertonic saline 5% in their feet for three weekly sessions. Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire for neuropathic pain was assessed. Both groups observed a significant reduction of the DN4 score throughout 8 weeks of follow-up. Both perineural and acupoints hypertonic saline injections of the foot could improve neuropathic pain in patients with diabetes.
Learn More >Both musculoskeletal pain and sleep disturbances are major health problems worldwide. Literature suggests that the two are reciprocally related and both may be associated with changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. However, the relationships among musculoskeletal pain, sleep duration, and CRP remain unclear. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the relationship between acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain, sleep, and inflammation using the data from the initial visit of the UK Biobank. 17,642 individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain, 11,962 individuals with acute musculoskeletal pain, and 29,604 pain-free controls were included in the analysis. In addition, we validated the findings using data from the second visit assessment of the UK Biobank. We found that 1) chronic pain was associated with higher CRP levels compared to both acute pain and the pain-free controls; 2) chronic pain was associated with a lower sleep score (a measurement of sleep patterns), compared to acute pain and the pain-free controls; and acute pain was associated with lower sleep scores compared to the controls; 3) there was a significant negative association between the sleep score and CRP; 4) CRP may partially mediate the association between chronic pain and decreased sleep score. However, the effect size of the mediation was rather small, and the pathophysiological significance remains uncertain. Further validation is needed. These findings were partly replicated in the UK Biobank second visit assessment cohort with a smaller sample size. Our findings, which are based on the large UK Biobank dataset, support the interplay between musculoskeletal pain, sleep patterns, and the potential mediating role of CRP on this reciprocal relationship.
Learn More >Sleep disturbance, chronic pain and depressive symptoms later in life are modifiable risk factors and may contribute to frailty. However, much less is known about sex differences in the association between these concurrent symptoms and frailty in older patients. Therefore, we conducted this study to explore the associations of poor sleep quality, chronic pain, and depressive symptoms with frailty in older patients, and the sex-specific associations.
Learn More >The 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) is a widely used measure to assess disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The DAS28-P index, a derived proportion of the patient-reported components (joint tenderness and patient global assessment) within the DAS28, has been utilized as a discriminatory measure of non-inflammatory pain mechanisms in RA. This study aimed to evaluate the use of the DAS28-P index as a predictor of treatment response in early RA.
Learn More >We examined long-term health outcomes associated with new persistent opioid use after surgery and hypothesized that patients with new persistent opioid use would have poorer overall health outcomes compared to those who did not develop new persistent opioid use after surgery.
Learn More >Osteoarthritis is a common and severe, multifactorial disease with a well-established genetic component. However, little is known about how genetics affect disease progression, and thereby the need for joint placement. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether the genetic associations of knee and hip osteoarthritis differ between patients treated with joint replacement and patients without joint replacement.
Learn More >Gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events are frequently caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and often require interruption of cancer treatment. Compared with ICI colitis and enteritis, limited information exists about ICI gastritis. This study characterized clinical features and treatment outcomes of ICI gastritis.
Learn More >Due to the inherent subjectivity of pain, it is difficult to make accurate judgments of pain in others. Research has found discrepancies between the ways in which perceived "objective" (e.g., medical evidence of injury) and "subjective" information (e.g., self-report) influence judgments of pain. This study aims to explore which potential cues (depictions of sensory input, brain activation, self-reported pain, and facial expressions) participants are most influenced by when evaluating pain in others.
Learn More >