The visual time analog scale: simple, novel measurement approach to assess pain in patients with chronic pain

Aim: We conducted a preliminary evaluation of a newly developed, time-based visual time analog (VITA) scale for measuring pain in chronic pain patients. Materials & methods: 40 patients with chronic back pain rated their pain over four visits using numerical (pain) rating scale (NRS) and VITA assessing pain intensity by distributing the amount of time spent on ‘not aware of pain’ (blue), ‘aware of nothing but pain’ (red) and time in between (yellow). Results: The NRS scores were correlated with the VITA Red but not with VITA Blue. The psychometric analyses revealed that VITA achieved greater reliability and sensitivity than did NRS. Conclusion: The results provide preliminary support for VITA scale for assessing pain intensity in patients with chronic pain.

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Correlation between the Neuropathic PainDETECT Screening Questionnaire and Pain Intensity in Chronic Pain Patients

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57040353 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 353

Author(s):

Sebastian Lukas König ◽

Michal Prusak ◽

Sibylle Pramhas ◽

Marita Windpassinger

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Pain Intensity ◽

Treatment Response ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Outpatient Setting ◽

Baseline Visit ◽

Wide Range ◽

Chronic Pain Patients ◽

Pain Patients

Background and Objectives: Pain is a multidimensional phenomenon with a wide range regarding the location, intensity and quality. Patients with chronic pain, in particular those suffering from mixed pain, often present a special challenge. The PainDETECT questionnaire (PD-Q) is a screening instrument designed to classify whether a patient has neuropathic pain (NP), often rated as more distressing compared to nociceptive pain. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the PD-Q score correlates with pain intensity, measured with the numeric rating scale (NRS), in chronic pain patients in an outpatient setting. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based study was conducted to identify the associations between the unidimensional NRS scale for pain intensity and the PD-Q score for screening of an NP component in an outpatient setting. Participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire themselves. Results: One hundred seventy-six participants completed the PD-Q questionnaire and rated pain on the NRS scale at the baseline visit. The PD-Q and NRS scores significantly correlated at the baseline visit and the 1-month follow-up visit in chronic pain patients. The identification of a neuropathic component in chronic pain may permit more targeted and effective pain management. Conclusions: The findings of our questionnaire suggest that a significant proportion of chronic pain patients had manifested features of NP at the first visit to the outpatient clinic. The PD-Q is a useful screening tool to alert clinicians of NP that may need further diagnostic evaluation or therapeutic intervention and may also help to predict treatment response. Further research is needed to investigate if a correlation is predictive of treatment response when pain therapy targets NP.

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Clinical importance of changes in chronic pain intensity measured on an 11-point numerical pain rating scale

Pain ◽

10.1016/s0304-3959(01)00349-9 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 94 (2) ◽

pp. 149-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 2827

Author(s):

John T. Farrar ◽

James P. Young ◽

Linda LaMoreaux ◽

John L. Werth ◽

Michael R. Poole

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Pain Intensity ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Clinical Importance ◽

Pain Rating ◽

Numerical Pain Rating Scale ◽

Pain Rating Scale

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Sublingual Buprenorphine/Naloxone and Multi-Modal Management for High-Risk Chronic Pain Patients

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10050973 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 973

Author(s):

Shane Kaski ◽

Patrick Marshalek ◽

Jeremy Herschler ◽

Sijin Wen ◽

Wanhong Zheng

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

High Risk ◽

Pain Score ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Pain Treatment ◽

Pain Clinic ◽

Sublingual Buprenorphine ◽

Significant Downward Trend ◽

Chronic Pain Patients ◽

Pain Patients

Patients with chronic pain managed with opioid medications are at high risk for opioid overuse or misuse. West Virginia University (WVU) established a High-Risk Pain Clinic to use sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone (bup/nal) plus a multimodal approach to help chronic pain patients with history of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) or aberrant drug-related behavior. The objective of this study was to report overall retention rates and indicators of efficacy in pain control from approximately six years of High-Risk Pain Clinic data. A retrospective chart review was conducted for a total of 78 patients who enrolled in the High-Risk Pain Clinic between 2014 and 2020. Data gathered include psychiatric diagnoses, prescribed medications, pain score, buprenorphine/naloxone dosing, time in clinic, and reason for dismissal. A linear mixed effects model was used to assess the pain score from the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) and daily bup/nal dose across time. The overall retention of the High-Risk Pain Clinic was 41%. The mean pain score demonstrated a significant downward trend across treatment time (p < 0.001), while the opposite trend was seen with buprenorphine dose (p < 0.001). With the benefit of six years of observation, this study supports buprenorphine/naloxone as a safe and efficacious component of comprehensive chronic pain treatment in patients with SUD or high-risk of opioid overuse or misuse.

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Effectiveness of Progressive Resisted Exercise along with Conventional Exercise and Conventional Exercise Program alone in Subjects with Text Neck Syndrome

Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International ◽

10.9734/jpri/2021/v33i59b34412 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 536-542

Author(s):

Divya Jain ◽

Swapna Jawade ◽

Neha Chitale

Keyword(s):

Neck Pain ◽

Pain Intensity ◽

Conventional Therapy ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Neck Disability Index ◽

Exercise Program ◽

Pain Rating ◽

Numerical Pain Rating Scale ◽

Neck Disability ◽

Pain Rating Scale

Background: "Text neck" is a term coined to describe the posture created by leaning forward for lengthy periods of time, such as when reading and texting on a cellphone which has been linked to stress injuries. Neck pain, upper back discomfort, shoulder pain, frequent headaches, and greater curvature of the spine are all dangerous indications of text neck. According to a survey, 35% of smartphone users suffer from text neck syndrome. People between the ages of 15 and 18 are more likely to have neck pain. This protocol has been created that describes the design of comparative study to evaluate effectiveness of progressive resisted exercise along with conventional exercise and conventional exercise program alone in text neck syndrome. Methods: The participants (n=80) will be recruited in the study suffering from text neck syndrome and meeting the inclusion criteria. Two groups will be formed such that patients in group A will be treated with conventional therapy and group B will be treated with progressive resisted exercise (PRE) along with conventional therapy. The protocol will cover 4 weeks of treatment. In the rehabilitation period, we will evaluate the pain intensity, strength of neck muscles and functional activity. Our outcome measures will be- Numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and Neck disability index (NDI). Discussion: Efficacy of the intervention will be evaluated by analyzing the pain intensity by using Numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and level of functional disability by using Neck disability index (NDI). The result of the study will significantly provide affirmation on either using combination therapy of PRE with conventional exercise or conventional exercise alone.

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CYP2D6 Basic Genotyping of Patients with Chronic Pain Receiving Tramadol or Codeine. A Study in a Greek Cohort

Pain Medicine ◽

10.1093/pm/pnaa122 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. 3199-3204 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chrysanthi Batistaki ◽

Eleni Chrona ◽

Andreas Kostroglou ◽

Georgia Kostopanagiotou ◽

Maria Gazouli

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Pain Management ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Numeric Rating Scale ◽

Cyp2d6 Genotype ◽

Chronic Pain Patients ◽

Reduction Of Pain ◽

Pain Patients ◽

Numeric Rating

Abstract Objective To assess CYP2D6 genotype prevalence in chronic pain patients treated with tramadol or codeine. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting General hospital, pain management unit. Subjects Patients with chronic pain, treated with codeine or tramadol. Methods Patients’ pain was assessed at baseline (numeric rating scale [NRS]; 0–10). Prescription of codeine or tramadol was selected randomly. The assessment of patients’ response to the drug in terms of pain relief and adverse effects was performed after 24 hours. Reduction of pain intensity of >50% or an NRS <4 was considered a positive response. Patients’ blood samples were collected during the first visit. Genotyping for the common variants CYP2D6 *2, *3, *4, *5, *6, *9, *10, *14, and *17 was performed, and alleles not carrying any polymorphic allele were classified as CYP2D6*1 (wild-type [wt]). Results Seventy-six consecutive patients were studied (20 males, 56 females), aged 21–85 years. Thirty-four received tramadol and 42 codeine. The main genotypes of CYP2D6 identified were the wt/wt (35.5%), the *4/wt (17.1%), and the *6/wt (10.5%). Adverse effects were common, especially in carriers of *9/*9, *5/*5, *5/*4, and *10/*10, as well as in variants including the 4 allele (*4/*1 [38.4%] and *4/*4 [42.8%]). Conclusions Genotyping can facilitate personalized pain management with opioids, as specific alleles are related to decreased efficacy and adverse effects.

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