Abstract
Pain is a complex multidimensional experience that includes overall intensity/magnitude,
unpleasantness/bothersomeness (affect), location, and quality. However, there is a
paucity of research examining the importance of pain quality to patient functioning;
most research focuses only on the intensity and affective components of pain. This
study sought to address this gap by examining, in a sample of patients with carpal
tunnel syndrome (CTS), the associations between pain quality and 2 domains of patient
functioning: pain interference and sleep quality. We found that measures of pain quality
contributed to the prediction of pain interference and sleep quality over and above
the effects of global pain intensity and unpleasantness. In our sample, both throbbing
and itchy pain emerged as contributing the most unique variance to the prediction
of patient functioning. The findings indicate that the presence of pain described
as throbbing or itchy, regardless of the overall magnitude of pain, may make patients
with CTS particularly vulnerable to the negative impact of pain on quality of life.
The findings support the need for experimental studies to determine if treatments
can be identified that address these 2 pain qualities, and if effective treatments
for these qualities in particular result in significant improvement in the quality
of life of patients with CTS.
Perspective
A growing body of research supports the importance of assessing multiple domains of
pain in clinical and research settings. The current findings suggest the possibility
that, in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, itchy and throbbing pain may play key
roles in patient functioning above and beyond global pain intensity and unpleasantness.
More research is needed to confirm this finding, and whether treatments can be identified
that address these pain qualities specifically.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 25, 2010
Accepted:
November 19,
2009
Received in revised form:
November 6,
2009
Received:
July 30,
2009
Footnotes
Supported by Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
