Pediatric Chronic Orofacial Pain: A Narrative Review of Biopsychosocial Associations and Treatment Approaches

Pediatric chronic orofacial pain (OFP) is an umbrella term which refers to pain associated with the hard and soft tissues of the head, face, and neck lasting >3 months in patients younger than 18 years of age. Common chronic pediatric OFP diagnoses include temporomandibular disorder, headaches, and neuropathic pain. Chronic OFP can adversely affect youth's daily functioning and development in many areas of well-being, and may be associated with emotional stress, depression, functional avoidance, and poor sleep, among other negative outcomes. In this mini-review, we will discuss common psychological comorbidities and familial factors that often accompany chronic pediatric OFP conditions. We will also discuss traditional management approaches for pediatric orofacial pain including education, occlusal appliances, and psychological treatments such as relaxation, mindfulness-based interventions, and cognitive-behavioral treatments. Finally, we highlight avenues for future research, as a better understanding of chronic OFP comorbidities in childhood has the potential to prevent long-term pain-related disability in adulthood.

COVID-19 pandemic impact on psychotropic prescribing for adults with intellectual disability: an observational study in English specialist community services

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a disproportionate impact on people with intellectual disability (PwID). PwID are at higher risk of mental illness and receive psychotropic prescribing ‘off licence' also, to manage distress behaviour. The lockdown and reduction of multidisciplinary face-to-face appointments had an impact on care delivery, the recourse possibly being psychotropic prescribing. It is imperative to comprehend the influence the pandemic had on psychotropic prescribing patterns to enable future planning. Aims The aim was to understand the impact of the pandemic by comparing psychotropic prescribing patterns during the England lockdown with the prescribing patterns before lockdown in specialist urban and rural psychiatric services for PwID. Method Data was collected from Cornwall (rural) and London (urban) intellectual disability services in England as a service evaluation project to rationalise psychotropic prescribing. PwID in both services open across January 2020 to January 2021 were included. Baseline patient demographics including age, gender, ethnicity, intellectual disability level and neurodevelopmental and psychological comorbidities were collected. Baseline psychotropic prescribing and subsequent % change for each psychotropic group for the two services was compared using Pearson's chi-square and z-statistic (two tailed) with significance taken at P < 0.05. Results The two centres London (n = 113) and Cornwall (n = 97) were largely comparable but for baseline differences in terms of presence of severe mental illness (37 v. 86, P < 0.001), challenging behaviour (44 v. 57, P < 0.05) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (37 v. 3, P < 0.001). There was an overall increase in psychotropic prescribing during lockdown in urban as compared with rural settings (11% v. 2%). Conclusions The pandemic caused an increase in psychotropic prescribing associated with lockdown severity and urban settings. Team structures could have played a role.

Common Fundamentals of Psoriasis and Depression

Psoriasis is an inflammatory, immune-mediated disease that is frequently associated with psychological comorbidities such as depression. The stigma patients feel because of the appearance of their skin may contribute to the high psycho-social burden of the disease. However, there is emerging evidence that overlapping biological mechanisms are, to a substantial degree, responsible for the close interaction between psoriasis and depression. Increased proinflammatory mediators such as C-reactive protein (CRP) or interleukin (IL)-6 are present in both psoriasis and depression indicating that inflammation may represent a pathophysiologic link between the diseases. Anti-inflammatory biologic therapies treat the clinical manifestations of psoriasis, but might also play a significant role in reducing associated depressive symptoms in psoriasis patients. Comparison between single studies focusing on the change of depressive symptoms in psoriasis is limited by inconsistency of the applied depression screening tools.

Does Low Grade Systemic Inflammation Have a Role in Chronic Pain?

One of the major clinical manifestations of peripheral neuropathy, either resulting from trauma or diseases, is chronic pain. While it significantly impacts patients’ quality of life, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive, and treatment is not satisfactory. Systemic chronic inflammation (SCI) that we are referring to in this perspective is a state of low-grade, persistent, non-infective inflammation, being found in many physiological and pathological conditions. Distinct from acute inflammation, which is a protective process fighting against intruders, SCI might have harmful effects. It has been associated with many chronic non-communicable diseases. We hypothesize that SCI could be a predisposing and/or precipitating factor in the development of chronic pain, as well as associated comorbidities. We reviewed evidence from human clinical studies indicating the coexistence of SCI with various types of chronic pain. We also collated existing data about the sources of SCI and who could have it, showing that those individuals or patients having SCI usually have higher prevalence of chronic pain and psychological comorbidities. We thus elaborate on the need for further research in the connection between SCI and chronic pain. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain these complex interactions.

Impacts of mindfulness-based interventions in people undergoing hemodialysis: a systematic review

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious public health problem worldwide, leading to a series of physical and psychological comorbidities, in addition to costly treatments, lifestyle and dietary restrictions. There is evidence that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) offer complementary treatment for people with chronic illnesses, including CKD, with the aim of improving overall health, reducing side effects and treatment costs. This review aims to investigate the MBIs impact on people with CKD undergoing hemodialysis, and to identify the methodological quality of the current literature in order to support future studies. Methods: We ran searches in five databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus) in July 2020. The papers were selected and evaluated by two reviewers independently, using predefined criteria, including the Cochrane Group's risk of bias tool and its recommendations (CRD42020192936). Results: Of the 175 studies found, 6 randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria, and ranged from 2014 to 2019. There were significant improvements in symptoms of anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, sleep quality, and quality of life (n=3) in the groups submitted to the intervention, in addition to physical measures such as blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate (n=1). Conclusions: MBIs can offer a promising and safe complementary therapy for people with CKD undergoing hemodialysis, acting on quality of life and physical aspects of the disease.

P093 A Systematic Review of Adherence to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) - Key Findings

Introduction Research into factors influencing adherence to CBT-I and how adherence impacts treatment outcomes remains scarce. Through a systematic review, we aimed to determine how adherence is assessed; which factors predict adherence; and which treatment outcomes are predicted by adherence. Methods Included publications met the following criteria: adults with insomnia; an intervention of CBT-I, including sleep restriction (SRT) and/or stimulus control (SCT); a reported measure of adherence; and written in English. Results Final n=103 papers. Measures assessed either global adherence or adherence to specific components of CBT-I via questionnaires, sleep diaries, interviews, or actigraphy. Most common measures were sleep diary-derived CBT-I components for therapist-led studies, and module completion for digital studies. Twenty-eight papers (27.2% of total) examined predictors of adherence. Depression, pre- and post-session sleep, psychosocial support, and dysfunctional beliefs about sleep predicted adherence. Demographic variables, other psychological comorbidities, insomnia severity, and sleep questionnaires did not predict adherence. Twenty-eight papers (27.2%) examined whether adherence predicted treatment outcomes. Neither global adherence nor adherence to any specific component of therapist-led CBT-I reliably predicted sleep outcomes. For digital CBT-I, completion of treatment modules was linked to improvements in ISI, however there were only five studies. Conclusion There was a high degree of heterogeneity in how adherence was measured, and in predictors and outcome variables assessed. This heterogeneity likely explains why adherence does not appear to predict treatment outcome. The field needs to develop a standardised method for assessing each specific adherence construct to fully understand the role of adherence in CBT-I.

Do Patients of Chronic Low Back Pain have Psychological Comorbidities?

Background Individuals with chronic pain have been reported to have an increased incidence of psychological morbidities. We aimed to examine the prevalence of anxiety, depression, disability, alexithymia, insomnia, and sleep quality in patients having chronic low back pain (LBP) and study their association with the severity of pain and any disability arising from it. Methods This descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital setting. Fifty adults with nonspecific LBP of > 6-week duration were included. Study instruments employed were patient health questionnaire-9 for depression, generalized anxiety disorder-7 for anxiety, visual analogue scale (VAS) score for pain, Oswestry disability index (ODI) to assess disability, Toronto alexithymia scale-20 for alexithymia, and insomnia severity index and Pittsburgh sleep quality index for insomnia. Descriptive results were expressed as numbers, means, and proportions. Association study between variables was performed using Fisher’s exact test. Results Mean ODI score was 31.54% (95% CI, 26.09–36.99); mean VAS score was 6.08 (95% CI, 5.35–6.81). Insomnia of varying severity was found in 29 patients. Sleep quality was reported as good by 23 patients. One patient had alexithymia. There was significant association between the level of disability and depression, anxiety, insomnia, and sleep quality. The severity of pain had significant association with insomnia but the association with anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and sleep quality was not significant. Conclusions Patients with chronic LBP do have associated psychological comorbidities of varying extent. A “patient-centric” approach when treating patients with chronic LBP is necessary, so that appropriate evaluation of psychiatric and psychosocial comorbidities, sleep problems, and quality of life is done as part of their routine management to ensure the desired outcomes.