Abstract not found

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mas-sage may be useful adjunctive therapies for chronic musculoskeletal pain. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of studying MBSR and mas-sage for the management of chronic pain and estimate their effects on pain and mood. DESIGN: Randomized trial comparing MBSR or massage with stand-ard care. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. MEASUREMENTS: Pain was assessed with 0 to 10 numeric rating scales. Physical and mental health status was measured with the SF-12. RESULTS: The study completion rate was 76.7%. At week 8, the mas-sage group had average difference scores for pain unpleasantness of 2.9 and mental health status of 13.6 compared with 0.13 (Po.05) and 3.9 (Po.04), respectively, for the standard care group. These differenc-es were no longer significant at week 12. There were no significant dif-ferences in the pain outcomes for the MBSR group. At week 12, the mean change in mental health status for the MBSR group was 10.2 compared with 1.7 in the standard care group (Po.04). CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to study MBSR and massage in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Mindfulness-based stress reduc-tion may be more effective and longer-lasting for mood improvement while massage may be more effective for reducing pain. KEY WORDS: mindfulness-based stress reduction; massage; chronic pain; mental health; integrative medicine.

Women with knee osteoarthritis have more pain and poorer function than men, but similar physical activity prior to total knee replacement

Effects of co-administered dexamethasone and diclofenac potassium on pain, swelling and trismus following third molar surgery

Abstract not found

Context: Although many previous studies have examined the preference of patients for different pain measurement scales, preference for anchor descriptors has not been thoroughly discussed. Objectives: To examine (1) the preferred end-phrases used in the VAS as anchor labels for Japanese patients with chronic pain, and (2) whether the preference differs according to factors such as age, sex, educational level, duration of pain, and pain intensity. Methods: We performed an observational study in patients suffering from non-cancer chronic pain for more than 3 months at a pain center in Japan. The patients were asked to rate their pain intensity using four types of VAS that used the following different anchor descriptors: ‘‘worst pain’ ’ (‘‘Worst’’), ‘‘worst pain bearable’ ’ (‘‘Bearable’’), ‘‘worst pain imaginable’’ (‘‘Imaginable’’), and ‘‘worst pain you have ever experienced’ ’ (‘‘Experienced’’). They were also asked to rank the four scales according to ease of responding, and asked which descriptor best reflected their perceived pain. Results: In total, 183 patients participated in the study. They consisted of 119 (65.0%) women and 64 (35.0%) men aged 18– 84 years with the mean age of 56.9 years. ‘‘Experienced’ ’ was most preferred (69.8%), followed by ‘‘Bearable’ ’ (66.3%), ‘‘Worst’ ’ (48.8%), and ‘‘Imaginable’ ’ (16.9%). Factors such as age, sex, educational background, duration of pain, and pain intensity did not significantly affect the results. In 83.1 % of patients, the preferred descriptor corresponded to the descriptor

Clinical evaluation of 4 % hydrogen peroxide bleaching in mandibular teeth