How an Understanding of Our Ability to Adhere to Verbal Rules Can Increase Insight Into (Mal)adaptive Functioning in Chronic Pain

As a significant public health issue, chronic pain, mainly neuropathic pain (NP) and inflammatory pain, has a severe impact. The underlying mechanisms of chronic pain are enigmatic at present. The roles of ubiquitin have been demonstrated in various physiological and pathological conditions and underscore its potential as therapeutic targets. The dysfunction of the component of the ubiquitin system that occurs during chronic pain is rapidly being discovered. These results provide insight into potential molecular mechanisms of chronic pain. Chronic pain is regulated by ubiquitination, SUMOylation, ubiquitin ligase, and deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB), etc. Insight into the mechanism of the ubiquitin system regulating chronic pain might contribute to relevant therapeutic targets and the development of novel analgesics.

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Not Just a Slice: Animal Crossing and a Life Ongoing

Loading ◽

10.7202/1075264ar ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (22) ◽

pp. 72-88

Author(s):

Gracie Lu Straznickas

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Pain Management ◽

Social Interactions ◽

Case Studies ◽

It Impacts ◽

Game World ◽

The World ◽

Future Work ◽

Further Development ◽

Insight Into

This paper defines and examines a genre of videogames I call slice of life and reflects upon the use and appeal of the genre for different audiences. I develop an account of the slice of life genre by defining three critical traits: the mundane activities comprising most of the game time, the normativity of social interactions within the world, and the ongoingness of the game world in the absence of the player. Utilizing a journal and experience-based methodology, I present my own experience with chronic pain and pain management to assess how Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a game that falls into this slice of life category, was useful to me as a disabled player. My analysis not only reveals a connection between my experience in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and pain management, but also offers insight into how the slice of life genre involves different metagames for different audiences. Future work may address more case studies in further development of the slice of life genre as well as how it impacts different audiences.

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Communicating with Youth about Pain: Developmental Considerations

Children ◽

10.3390/children7100184 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (10) ◽

pp. 184

Author(s):

Natacha D. Emerson ◽

Brenda Bursch

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Adaptive Functioning ◽

Communication Strategies ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Trauma Symptoms ◽

Pain Communication ◽

Tailored Communication ◽

Important Health ◽

Pain Experiences

Background: Pain experiences can negatively impact children and adolescents, leading to trauma symptoms and nonadherence to important health behaviors. Developmentally-tailored communication strategies may mitigate this risk. Methods: This article reviews cognitive and linguistic developmental factors, within the familial and cultural context, that are important to consider when communicating with youth about acute, procedural, and/or chronic pain. Results: Youth undergoing acute or procedural pain benefit from pain education, truthful information about the procedure, and advance preparation. The use of analogies may be particularly helpful for patient understanding of chronic pain development, maintenance, and treatment. Youth with developmental disabilities may express pain differently than their normative peers, requiring adaptation of communication strategies. Conclusion: Developmentally-tailored pain communication is an important tool for caregivers and healthcare providers that may foster adaptive functioning in youth who experience pain.

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Understanding and managing pain in the arthritic synovial joint: an update

Companion Animal ◽

10.12968/coan.2021.0036 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

John Innes

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Joint Pain ◽

Synovial Joint ◽

Common Cause ◽

New Targets ◽

Great Progress ◽

The Future ◽

Arthritic Joints ◽

Insight Into ◽

Made In

Osteoarthritis is a very common cause of chronic pain in dogs and cats. Great progress has been made in the last 2–3 decades in unravelling the molecular mediators of joint pain. Now we are starting to see the benefits of this research in terms of new targets to block joint pain and new medicines reaching our pharmacy shelves. This review summarises the progress that has been made in understanding why and how arthritic joints cause pain. This will help readers understand novel medicines and provide insight into the others that might follow in the future.

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Can Personality Be Changed? The Role of Beliefs in Personality and Change

Current Directions in Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00612.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 391-394 ◽

Cited By ~ 154

Author(s):

Carol S. Dweck

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Social Acceptance ◽

Adaptive Functioning ◽

Insight Into ◽

The Way

Using recent research, I argue that beliefs lie at the heart of personality and adaptive functioning and that they give us unique insight into how personality and functioning can be changed. I focus on two classes of beliefs—beliefs about the malleability of self-attributes and expectations of social acceptance versus rejection—and show how modest interventions have brought about important real-world changes. I conclude by suggesting that beliefs are central to the way in which people package their experiences and carry them forward, and that beliefs should play a more central role in the study of personality.

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The Role of Age, Education, and Digital Health Literacy in the Usability of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain: Mixed Methods Study

JMIR Formative Research ◽

10.2196/12883 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. e12883 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Rosalie van der Vaart ◽

Dorine van Driel ◽

Kristel Pronk ◽

Suzan Paulussen ◽

Selma te Boekhorst ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Chronic Pain ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Educational Level ◽

Digital Health ◽

Individual Characteristics ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Performance Tasks ◽

Insight Into

Background Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (iCBT) can be effective in mental and somatic health care. Research on the feasibility of internet interventions in clinical practice is, however, still scarce. Studies with a focus on the patient regarding usability of interventions and digital health literacy skills are especially lacking. Objective The goal of this study was to assess the usability of an iCBT for chronic pain, Master Your Pain, and the relationship between its usability outcomes and the factors age, educational level, and digital health literacy skills. The aims were to determine what changes were needed in the program for sufficient usability and which individual characteristics were related to the usability of the program. Methods Patients were recruited from two mental health care practices. A mixed methods approach was used in this study. A qualitative observational study comprising performance tasks in the iCBT program was used to test usability. A quantitative questionnaire was used to measure possible related constructs. Usability was operationalized as the number of tasks that could be completed and the type and number of problems that occurred while doing so. Performance tasks were set up to measure 6 digital skills: (1) operating the computer and internet browser, (2) navigation and orientation, (3) using search strategies, (4) evaluating relevance of content, (5) adding personal content, and (6) protecting and respecting privacy. Participants were asked to think aloud while performing the tasks, and screen activities and webcam recordings were captured. The qualitative observational data was coded using inductive analysis by two independent researchers. Correlational analyses were performed to test how usability relates to sociodemographics and digital health literacy. Results A total of 32 patients participated, with a mean age of 49.9 years and 84% (27/32) being female. All performance tasks except one (fill in a diary registration) could be completed independently by more than 50% of the participants. On operational, navigation, and search levels, participants struggled most with logging in, logging out, and finding specific parts of the intervention. Half of the sample experienced problems evaluating the relevance and adding content to the program to some extent. Usability correlated moderately negatively with age and moderately positively with digital health literacy skills but not with educational level. Conclusions The results provide insight into what is essential for proper usability regarding the design of an iCBT program considering variations in age, educational level, and digital health literacy. Furthermore, the results provide insight into what type of support is needed by patients to properly use the intervention. Tailoring support among the needs of certain age groups or skill levels could be beneficial and could range from no extra support (only online feedback, as intended) to practical support (an additional usability introduction session) to blended care (combined face-to-face sessions throughout the therapy).

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Patients’ Needs and Requirements for eHealth Pain Management Interventions: Qualitative Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13205 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Ingrid Konstanse Ledel Solem ◽

Cecilie Varsi ◽

Hilde Eide ◽

Olöf Birna Kristjansdottir ◽

Jelena Mirkovic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Pain Management ◽

Information And Communication Technology ◽

Communication Technology ◽

User Preferences ◽

Self Management ◽

Management Intervention ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Ehealth Intervention ◽

Insight Into

BACKGROUND A growing body of evidence supports the potential effectiveness of electronic health (eHealth) interventions in managing chronic pain. However, research on the needs and preferences of patients with chronic pain in relation to eHealth interventions is scarce. Eliciting user input in the development of eHealth interventions may be a crucial step toward developing meaningful interventions for patients for potentially improving treatment outcomes. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore the experiences of patients with chronic pain with regard to information and communication technology, understand how an eHealth intervention can support the everyday needs and challenges of patients with chronic pain, and identify possible facilitators and barriers for patients’ use of an eHealth pain management intervention. METHODS Twenty patients living with chronic pain and five spouses participated in individual interviews. Semistructured interview guides were used to explore participants’ needs, experiences, and challenges in daily life as well as their information and communication technology experiences and preferences for eHealth support interventions. Spouses were recruited and interviewed to gain additional insight into the patients’ needs. The study used qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS The participants were generally experienced technology users and reported using apps regularly. They were mainly in favor of using an eHealth self-management intervention for chronic pain and considered it a potentially acceptable way of gathering knowledge and support for pain management. The participants expressed the need for obtaining more information and knowledge, establishing a better balance in everyday life, and receiving support for improving communication and social participation. They provided suggestions for the eHealth intervention content and functionality to address these needs. Accessibility, personalization, and usability were emphasized as important elements for an eHealth support tool. The participants described an ideal eHealth intervention as one that could be used for support and distraction from pain, at any time or in any situation, regardless of varying pain intensity and concentration capacity. CONCLUSIONS This study provides insight into user preferences for eHealth interventions aiming to address self-management for chronic pain. Participants highlighted important factors to be considered when designing and developing eHealth interventions for self-management of chronic pain, illustrating the importance and benefit of including users in the development of eHealth interventions. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03705104; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03705104.

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Insight into the Chronic Pain Patient

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management ◽

10.1016/s0885-3924(00)00232-3 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 85-87

Author(s):

Marc S Goloff ◽

Abpp

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Chronic Pain Patient ◽

Pain Patient ◽

Insight Into

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Behavioral preference for viewing drug v. pleasant images predicts current and future opioid misuse among chronic pain patients

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291719000461 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 644-652 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Scott J. Moeller ◽

Adam W. Hanley ◽

Eric L. Garland

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Choice Behavior ◽

Longitudinal Design ◽

Choice Task ◽

Prescription Opioid ◽

Opioid Misuse ◽

Chronic Pain Patients ◽

Pain Patients ◽

Insight Into

AbstractBackgroundThe USA is currently enduring an opioid crisis. Identifying cost-effective, easy-to-implement behavioral measures that predict treatment outcomes in opioid misusers is a crucial scientific, therapeutic, and epidemiological goal.MethodsThe current study used a mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal design to test whether a behavioral choice task, previously validated in stimulant users, was associated with increased opioid misuse severity at baseline, and whether it predicted change in opioid misuse severity at follow-up. At baseline, data from 100 prescription opioid-treated chronic pain patients were analyzed; at follow-up, data were analyzed in 34 of these participants who were non-misusers at baseline. During the choice task, participants chose under probabilistic contingencies whether to view opioid-related images in comparison with affectively pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images. Following previous procedures, we also assessed insight into choice behavior, operationalized as whether (yes/no) participants correctly self-reported the image category they chose most often.ResultsAt baseline, the higher choice for viewing opioid images in direct comparison with pleasant images was associated with opioid misuse and impaired insight into choice behavior; the combination of these produced especially elevated opioid-related choice behavior. In longitudinal analyses of individuals who were initially non-misusers, higher baseline opioid v. pleasant choice behavior predicted more opioid misuse behaviors at follow-up.ConclusionsThese results indicate that greater relative allocation of behavior toward opioid stimuli and away from stimuli depicting natural reinforcement is associated with concurrent opioid misuse and portends vulnerability toward future misuse. The choice task may provide important medical information to guide opioid-prescribing practices.

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