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Chronic pain and tobacco dependence are two highly prevalent and comorbid conditions. The rate of smoking among persons in pain may be greater than twice the rate observed in the general population. Smokers tend to experience more adverse pain-treatment outcomes than do nonsmokers, and there is mounting evidence to suggest that smokers with comorbid pain disorders may have more difficulty abstaining from tobacco. The main goal of the current study was to examine cross-sectional relations between chronic pain status and past use of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. We also tested associations between chronic pain status and frequency of past quit attempts. Data were derived from a nationally-representative survey of households in the continental United States. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, substance use, mood and anxiety disorders, and number of attempts to quit smoking, smokers with chronic pain were found to be 1.67 times more likely to endorse past use of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation, relative to smokers with no chronic pain. Chronic pain status was not associated with number of past attempts to quit smoking. These data suggest that smokers with chronic pain are motivated to quit smoking, and may be particularly amenable to pharmacologic intervention. Results are discussed with regard to clinical implications and directions for future research.

DeGood and Kiernan (1996) demonstrated that chronic pain patients who assigned blame to others for their pain reported greater concurrent mood distress, behavioural disturbance, poorer response to past treatment, and lesser expectations of future treatment benefits than participants who did not blame anyone for their pain. The present study partially replicated the DeGood and Kiernan study. Subjects were 210 (110 males and 100 females) chronic pain patients from the Flinders Medical Centre Pain Management Unit in Adelaide, South Australia. Participants completed self-report measures of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioural variables. Contrary to DeGood and Kiernan's (1996) results, other-blame was not found to be a significant predictor of poor response to past pain treatments. Rather, linear multiple regression analyses revealed that a perceived sense of control over pain was a significant predictor of confidence in past pain relief treatments. A logistic regression revealed that time since onset of pain was the only significant predictor of the tendency to blame others. Implications of this study for chronic pain research and treatment are discussed. / Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2005.

This research assessed the clinical utility of an augmented Short Form 36 (SF-36) instrument, namely, the Treatment Outcomes in Pain Survey (TOPS) in an Australian chronic pain population. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was adopted. Intervention comprised patients attending the Comprehensive Outpatient Pain Education and Rehabilitation (COPER) program, which is an intensive, inter-disciplinary, three-week, cognitive behaviour therapy based outpatient chronic pain treatment. Statistical analysis comprised pre-treatment and post-treatment means and standard deviations, effect sizes, paired samples t-tests, and Cronbach's alpha. Australian norms for 86 (42 males and 44 females) patients were presented for initial values and treatment-related improvements. Internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) demonstrated that the TOPS was a reliable measure of group outcomes. Two dimensions, Life control and Total Pain Experience, were sensitive enough to follow individual patients. All SF-36 domains and ten of the fourteen TOPS domains improved significantly following treatment. Despite the limitations to this research, the results are consistent with previous findings (Fishbain, 2000; Morley, Eccleston, & Williams, 1999) that cognitive behavioural, multidisciplinary pain treatment is associated with improvement in a number of biopsychosocial aspects of chronic pain as measured by the TOPS. These include Pain Symptom, Lower Body Functional Limitations, Perceived Family/Social Disability, Objective Family/Social Disability, Total Pain Experience, Life Control, Solicitous Responses, Upper Body Functional Limitations, Fear Avoidance, Patient Satisfaction with Outcomes, as well as general health and wellbeing aspects measured by the SF-36 component of the TOPS. Limitations of the study and potential future research are discussed. / Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (MPsych(Clin))--University of South Australia, 1999

The objective of this thesis was to better understand the epidemiology of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) and its economic effects on the Australian sheep industries. The work also sought to apply this knowledge to better understand how to control the disease in Australian sheep flocks. The occurrence of CLA in some other species, as a comparison to CLA in sheep, is described in the literature review. However a comprehensive review of research on CLA in all livestock species is not needed to meet the aims of the thesis. The research used serological tests developed in the 1970s and ‘80s to examine the epidemiology and costs of CLA in Western Australian sheep flocks. Epidemiological techniques were used to determine the main risk factors associated with high incidences of CLA. Controlled experimentation was used to better understand the spread of CLA within flocks. Prevalence data collected at abattoirs and survey techniques were employed to better understand how CLA was being controlled in Australian sheep flocks. It was shown that toxin and cell wall ELISA tests for CLA were useful tools to study the spread of CLA in sheep flocks. Using the serological tests it was estimated that 80 per cent of CLA spread occurs after the second and third shearings. This knowledge was used to design a risk factor study which identified two significant factors associated with high CLA spread, that is in dips and close contact after shearing. These tests also facilitated the study of new CLA infection on wool production. It was found that sheep produce approximately five per cent less clean wool in the year in which they are infected. The main routes for the spread of CLA were from sheep with lung abscesses to those with skin cuts and through dips, rather than from an environment contaminated with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis bacteria. A survey of sheep producers found that the prevalence of CLA had decreased from over 50% in the 1970s to approximately 20% in the late 1990s. It also found that current vaccines were being used inefficiently. Large increases in the efficiency of control can be achieved by approximately 70 per cent of producers by using commercially available vaccines and the recommended vaccination programs of two

Can we reduce obesity and chronic disease risk factors without "going on a diet?" Appropriate management of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains a challenging issue for public health. Interventions demonstrating reductions in weight generally rely on labour-intensive, individualised counselling and usually feature highlyprescriptive diet/exercise plans which are time and cost-intensive to deliver, and potentially unsustainable at the community level. Moreover, there is limited evidence from randomised trials on the importance of active follow-up following initial intervention. This thesis describes the effectiveness of a 1-year randomised controlled trial incorporating an initial 16-week active lifestyle modification program on body composition and cardio-metabolic health.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2002. / Adviser: Julio Garcia. Submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-73). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met lit. opg. - Met een samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.