Sponsor
VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Merit Review Award (F44371) and supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development Service CIN 13-416.
Published In
Pain Medicine
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2017
Subjects
Pain -- Psychological aspects, Chronic pain, Pain -- Treatment, Wounds and injuries, United States. Department of Veterans Affairs
Abstract
Objective. Centrality of pain refers to the degree to which a patient views chronic pain as integral to his or her life or identity. The purpose of this study was to gain a richer understanding of pain centrality from the perspective of patients who live with chronic pain.
Methods. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 26 Veterans with chronic and disabling musculoskeletal pain after completing a stepped care intervention within a randomized controlled trial. Qualitative data were analyzed using an immersion/crystallization approach. We evaluated the role centrality plays in Veterans’ lives and examined whether and how their narratives differ when centrality either significantly decreases or increases after participation in a stepped care intervention for chronic pain.
Results. Our data identified three emergent themes that characterized pain centrality: 1) control, 2) acceptance, and 3) preoccupation. We identified five characteristics that distinguished patients’ changes in centrality from baseline: 1) biopsychosocial viewpoint, 2) activity level, 3) pain communication, 4) participation in managing own pain, and 5) social support.
Conclusions. This study highlights centrality of pain as an important construct to consider within the overall patient experience of chronic pain.
Locate the Document
DOI
doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnw137
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/22953
Citation Details
Outcalt, S. D., Nicolaidis, C., Bair, M. J., Myers, L. J., Miech, E. J., & Matthias, M. S. (2017). A Qualitative Examination of Pain Centrality Among Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts. Pain Medicine (Malden, Mass.), 18(2), 211-219.
Description
This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.