Browse by Audience
Anxiety and depression are associated with increased pain responses in chronic pain states. The extent to which anxiety drives chronic pain, or vice versa, remains an important question that has implications for analgesic treatment strategies. Here, the effect of existing anxiety on future osteoarthritis (OA) pain was investigated, and potential mechanisms were studied in an animal model. Pressure pain detection thresholds, anxiety, and depression were assessed in people with (n = 130) or without (n = 100) painful knee OA. Separately, knee pain and anxiety scores were also measured twice over 12 months in 4730 individuals recruited from the general population. A preclinical investigation of a model of OA pain in normo-anxiety Sprague-Dawley (SD) and high-anxiety Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats assessed underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Higher anxiety, independently from depression, was associated with significantly lower pressure pain detection thresholds at sites local to (P < 0.01) and distant from (P < 0.05) the painful knee in patients with OA. Separately, high anxiety scores predicted increased risk of knee pain onset in 3274 originally pain-free people over the 1-year period (odds ratio = 1.71; 95% confidence interval = 1.25-2.34, P < 0.00083). Similarly, WKY rats developed significantly lower ipsilateral and contralateral hind paw withdrawal thresholds in the monosodium iodoacetate model of OA pain, compared with SD rats (P = 0.0005). Linear regressions revealed that baseline anxiety-like behaviour was predictive of lowered paw withdrawal thresholds in WKY rats, mirroring the human data. This augmented pain phenotype was significantly associated with increased glial fibrillary acidic protein immunofluorescence in pain-associated brain regions, identifying supraspinal astrocyte activation as a significant mechanism underlying anxiety-augmented pain behaviour.
Learn More >The study objectives were to identify baseline predictors of low back pain severity changes over a one-year period among patients attending multidisciplinary tertiary clinics and determine whether health care utilization impacts this outcome.
Learn More >Approximately 400 000 Americans and 36 000 Canadians undergo cardiac surgery annually, and up to 56% will develop chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP). The primary aim of this study is to explore the association of pain-related beliefs and gender-based pain expectations on the development of CPSP. Secondary goals are to: (A) explore risk factors for poor functional status and patient-level cost of illness from a societal perspective up to 12 months following cardiac surgery; and (B) determine the impact of CPSP on quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) borne by cardiac surgery, in addition to the incremental cost for one additional QALY gained, among those who develop CPSP compared with those who do not.
Learn More >A majority of the nearly two million Americans living with limb loss suffer from chronic pain in the form of neuroma-related residual limb and phantom limb pain (PLP). Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) surgically transfers amputated nerves to nearby motor nerves for prevention of neuroma. The objective of this study was to determine whether TMR at the time of major limb amputation decreases the incidence and severity of PLP and residual limb pain.
Learn More >To assess the intraepidermal nerve fiber density in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM) and to evaluate the role of IgM binding to trisulfated heparin disaccharide (TS-HDS) in these patients.
Learn More >Approximately 15% of patients report persistent knee pain despite surgical success following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this study was to determine the association of acute-postsurgical pain (APSP) with chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) 6 months after TKA controlling for patient, surgical and psychological confounding factors.
Learn More >This study investigated a potential association between visual factors and symptoms related to migraine. It was predicted that photophobia and visual aura would be positively associated with interictal light sensitivity and visual headache triggers (flicker, glare, and eyestrain), and that these 2 visual symptoms would also be associated.
Learn More >Risk of opioid use disorder, overdose, and death from prescription opioids increases as dosage, duration, and use of extended-release and long-acting formulations increase. States are well suited to respond to the opioid crisis through legislation, regulations, enforcement, surveillance, and other interventions.
Learn More >Acute postoperative pain is associated with the development of persistent postsurgical pain, but it is unclear which aspect is most estimable.
Learn More >To assess the effects of onabotulinumtoxinA treatment for chronic migraine (CM) on comorbid symptoms of depression, anxiety, fatigue and poor sleep quality.
Learn More >