Despite the increasing acceptance of biopsychosocial models of pain and multidisciplinary treatments for pain, relatively little is known about the specific psychological variables and social processes related to postoperative pain in children, especially in an outpatient setting. The present study examined demographic, medical, and psychological predictors of children's pain and parents' administration of pain medication. Two hundred and thirty-six families with children aged 2 to 12 undergoing day surgery participated in the study. This included a subset of 100 children aged 6 to 12, who were asked to complete self-report measures of anxiety, expected pain, coping style, and pain. Parents of all children completed measures of expected pain, expected benefit from medication, perspective taking, and negative attitudes towards analgesics. Parents and school-aged children completed pain diaries on the day of surgery and two days following surgery. The prevalence of clinically significant pain was somewhat lower than in previous studies, but both pain and undertreatment (parents who gave less than the recommended amount of pain medication) remained common. Predictors of pain were examined by multiple regression, using data from the subset of 100 children aged 6 to 12. More intense pain was related to more invasive surgery, a constellation of analgesic-related variables (more doses of analgesia given, the use of a regional block, the use of local infiltration), high anxiety, high expectations of pain, and a tendency to cope with pain by acting out and catastrophizing. Predictors of dosing were examined by multiple regression, using data from the entire sample of 236 children. Parents gave more medication when their children had invasive surgery and high levels of pain, when they expected a lot of pain, and when they were relatively unconcerned about the negative effects of pain medication. In each case, the psychological variables, entered as a block, were significant predictors of pain even after controlling for demographic and medical variables. Health care providers should be aware of psychological factors predicting pain, as they may help to identify families that are at "high risk" for pain and undermedication. In addition, the variables identified in this study are appropriate targets for further research on psychological factors that cause, mediate or contribute to pain processes, and as such may contribute to the development of theoretical models of pain and pain management.

The purposes of this study is to determine: (a) the relationship between the dependant variables, (b) the relationship between the Borg pain scale and the performance tests, (c) the difference in performance between involved and uninvolved extremities, and (d) the effects of the three different therapeutic exercise treatments on selected performance tests and pain free isometric strength testing. Fifty subjects with physician diagnosed anterior knee pain (AKP), completed initial performance testing and 14 subjects completed initial testing, therapy and six weeks later final performance testing. The 14 subjects were randomly assigned to one of three therapeutic exercise treatment groups. The performance tests included; pain free isometric strength tests (90, 60, 45, and 15 degrees knee flexion), stair test, timed hop, triple hop, crossover hop, Figure 8 and Borg pain scale rating for each performance test. The results indicated a significant correlation between performance tests and pain free isometric strength tests. There was no relationship indicated between the performance tests, Borg pain scale ratings. The contrast between the injured and uninjured extremities performance test values of the fifty subjects that completed the initial testing indicated no significant (p< 0.05) difference. The results of this study indicated that there was no significant difference between the therapeutic exercise treatment groups. In conclusion, the three anterior knee pain treatments had no effect on strength and performance. / School of Physical Education

Doctor of Philosophy / Despite the demonstrated efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy for chronic pain, recent research has attempted to identify predictors of treatment outcome in order to improve the effectiveness of such treatments. This research has indicated that variables such as the nature of the onset of the pain and psychopathology are associated with poor adjustment to chronic pain. Accordingly, these variables might also be predictive of poor response to treatment. Individuals who experience a sudden onset of pain following an injury or accident, particularly when the instigating event is experienced as psychologically traumatic, may present for treatment with high levels of distress, including symptoms consistent with a posttraumatic stress response. The impact of this type of onset of pain and posttraumatic stress symptoms on adjustment to chronic pain and treatment outcome is the focus of this thesis. Three studies were conducted to clarify and extend earlier research findings in this area. Using 536 patients referred for treatment in a tertiary referral pain management centre, the first study examined the psychometric properties of a widely used self-report measure of posttraumatic stress symptoms (the PTSD Checklist, or PCL), modified for use in a chronic pain sample. This study provided preliminary support for the suitability of the PCL as a self-report measure of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms in chronic pain patients. However, the study also highlighted a number of issues with the use of self-report measures of posttraumatic stress symptoms in chronic pain patient samples. In particular, PCL items enquiring about symptoms which are a common aspect of the chronic pain experience (e.g. irritability, sleep problems) appeared to contribute to high mean scores on the PCL Avoidance and Arousal subscales. Furthermore, application of diagnostic cut-off scores and an algorithm recommended for the PCL in other trauma groups suggested that a much larger proportion of the sample was identified as potentially meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD than would have been expected from previous research. The second study utilised the modified PCL to investigate the impact of different types of onset of pain (e.g. traumatic onset) and posttraumatic stress symptoms on adjustment to chronic pain in a sample of 196 chronic pain patients referred to the same centre. For patients who experienced the onset of pain related to a specific event, two independent experts in the field of PTSD determined whether these events satisfied the definition of a traumatic event according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Adjustment was assessed through a number of validated measures of mood, disability, pain experience, and pain-related cognitions. Contrary to expectations, comparisons between patients who had experienced different types of onset of pain revealed few significant differences between them. That is, analyses comparing patients presenting with accident-related pain, or pain related to other specific events, to patients who had experienced spontaneous or insidious onset of pain revealed no significant differences between the groups on measures of pain severity, pain-related disability, and symptoms of affective distress after adjustment for age, pain duration, and compensation status. Similarly, comparisons between patients who had experienced a potentially traumatic onset of pain with those who had experienced a non-traumatic or spontaneous or insidious onset of pain also revealed no significant differences on the aforementioned variables. In contrast, compensation status, age, and a number of cognitive variables were significant predictors of pain severity, pain-related disability, and depression. The final study investigated the impact of type of pain onset and posttraumatic stress symptoms on response to a multidisciplinary cognitive-behavioural pain management program. Unlike the previous study, this treatment outcome study revealed a number of differences between onset groups. Most notably, patients who had experienced an insidious or spontaneous onset of pain reported greater improvements in pain severity and maintained these improvements more effectively over a one month period than patients who had experienced pain in the context of an accident or other specific incident. There was also limited evidence that improvements in depression favoured patients who had experienced an insidious or spontaneous and non-traumatic onset of pain. Consistent with this, posttraumatic stress symptoms were a significant predictor of treatment outcome, with higher levels of symptoms being associated with smaller improvements in pain-related disability and distress. Notably, this study also revealed that certain cognitive variables (i.e. catastrophising, self-efficacy, and fear-avoidance beliefs) were also significant predictors of treatment outcome, consistent with previous findings in the pain literature. This provided some perspective on the relative roles of both PTSD symptoms and cognitive variables in adjustment to persisting pain and treatment response. These findings were all consistent with expectations and with previous research. Implications for future research and for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain patients who present with posttraumatic stress symptoms are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Despite the demonstrated efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy for chronic pain, recent research has attempted to identify predictors of treatment outcome in order to improve the effectiveness of such treatments. This research has indicated that variables such as the nature of the onset of the pain and psychopathology are associated with poor adjustment to chronic pain. Accordingly, these variables might also be predictive of poor response to treatment. Individuals who experience a sudden onset of pain following an injury or accident, particularly when the instigating event is experienced as psychologically traumatic, may present for treatment with high levels of distress, including symptoms consistent with a posttraumatic stress response. The impact of this type of onset of pain and posttraumatic stress symptoms on adjustment to chronic pain and treatment outcome is the focus of this thesis. Three studies were conducted to clarify and extend earlier research findings in this area. Using 536 patients referred for treatment in a tertiary referral pain management centre, the first study examined the psychometric properties of a widely used self-report measure of posttraumatic stress symptoms (the PTSD Checklist, or PCL), modified for use in a chronic pain sample. This study provided preliminary support for the suitability of the PCL as a self-report measure of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms in chronic pain patients. However, the study also highlighted a number of issues with the use of self-report measures of posttraumatic stress symptoms in chronic pain patient samples. In particular, PCL items enquiring about symptoms which are a common aspect of the chronic pain experience (e.g. irritability, sleep problems) appeared to contribute to high mean scores on the PCL Avoidance and Arousal subscales. Furthermore, application of diagnostic cut-off scores and an algorithm recommended for the PCL in other trauma groups suggested that a much larger proportion of the sample was identified as potentially meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD than would have been expected from previous research. The second study utilised the modified PCL to investigate the impact of different types of onset of pain (e.g. traumatic onset) and posttraumatic stress symptoms on adjustment to chronic pain in a sample of 196 chronic pain patients referred to the same centre. For patients who experienced the onset of pain related to a specific event, two independent experts in the field of PTSD determined whether these events satisfied the definition of a traumatic event according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Adjustment was assessed through a number of validated measures of mood, disability, pain experience, and pain-related cognitions. Contrary to expectations, comparisons between patients who had experienced different types of onset of pain revealed few significant differences between them. That is, analyses comparing patients presenting with accident-related pain, or pain related to other specific events, to patients who had experienced spontaneous or insidious onset of pain revealed no significant differences between the groups on measures of pain severity, pain-related disability, and symptoms of affective distress after adjustment for age, pain duration, and compensation status. Similarly, comparisons between patients who had experienced a potentially traumatic onset of pain with those who had experienced a non-traumatic or spontaneous or insidious onset of pain also revealed no significant differences on the aforementioned variables. In contrast, compensation status, age, and a number of cognitive variables were significant predictors of pain severity, pain-related disability, and depression. The final study investigated the impact of type of pain onset and posttraumatic stress symptoms on response to a multidisciplinary cognitive-behavioural pain management program. Unlike the previous study, this treatment outcome study revealed a number of differences between onset groups. Most notably, patients who had experienced an insidious or spontaneous onset of pain reported greater improvements in pain severity and maintained these improvements more effectively over a one month period than patients who had experienced pain in the context of an accident or other specific incident. There was also limited evidence that improvements in depression favoured patients who had experienced an insidious or spontaneous and non-traumatic onset of pain. Consistent with this, posttraumatic stress symptoms were a significant predictor of treatment outcome, with higher levels of symptoms being associated with smaller improvements in pain-related disability and distress. Notably, this study also revealed that certain cognitive variables (i.e. catastrophising, self-efficacy, and fear-avoidance beliefs) were also significant predictors of treatment outcome, consistent with previous findings in the pain literature. This provided some perspective on the relative roles of both PTSD symptoms and cognitive variables in adjustment to persisting pain and treatment response. These findings were all consistent with expectations and with previous research. Implications for future research and for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain patients who present with posttraumatic stress symptoms are discussed.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend earlier work involving cluster analysis of MMPI profiles among persons with chronic low back pain. There are two specific goals. The first goal is to demonstrate the existence in a new sample of four distinct and homogenous profile clusters that have been found in previous research. The second goal is to investigate the relationship of the four profiles to the subjects, self-reported pain history and response to treatment. This study concludes that four distinct MMPI profiles can be identified among chronic low back pain patients. Further, these profiles are the same for males and females, and are the same profiles found in previous research. These profiles are significantly related to subjects' history of behaviors in dealing with pain. However, no relationship to treatment response was found. It was inferred that the MMPI is of value in understanding the nature of patients' pain coping behaviors, but that further research is needed before any statements can be made regarding the utility of the MMPI in understanding their response to treatment.

The topic of this diploma thesis is ?The Nurse?s Contribution to the Management of Pain Treatment of Patients with a Malignant Disease?. The first objective is to ascertain whether nurses know the specifics of care of patients suffering from a cancer pain. The second objective is to ascertain whether nurses use an analogue score to assess the cancer pain. The third objective is to ascertain whether nurses document the pain intensity. The fourth objective is to ascertain whether nurses use non-pharmacological techniques to relieve cancer pains. The fifth objective is to ascertain whether nurses know the strategy of the WHO?s pain relief ladder. The research was conducted in the form of questioning while using the technique of anonymous structured questionnaires completed by the research set consisting of nurses in selected clinical wards with a high probability of occurrence of patients with an oncologic diagnosis. The total of 360 questionnaires was distributed, of which 198 completed questionnaires were returned. 105 questionnaires (53 %) came from the regional hospital in České Budějovice, 51 (26 %) from the St. Anne?s University Hospital in Brno and 42 (21 %) from the district hospital in Tábor. The research took place in March 2012. The results were assessed under the criteria preset by the author of the thesis. Hypothesis 1: Nurses are able to provide specific nursing care to patients suffering from a cancer pain, was confirmed. Hypothesis 2: Nurses assess the pain under the available analogue scores, was confirmed. Hypothesis 3: Nurses document the pain intensity, was disconfirmed. Hypothesis 4: Nurses use non-pharmacological techniques, especially physical ones, was confirmed. Hypothesis 5: Nurses know the strategy of the WHO?s pain relief ladder, was confirmed. In connection with the addressed issue, an educational leaflet about pain monitoring was drawn up for non-medical healthcare workers. This material describes the most frequently used methods of pain assessment and will serve as an overview of individual procedures including their specifics and application possibilities. The diploma thesis may serve for extending the knowledge of nurses in the field of pain treatment management.

Thesis (MTech (Nursing))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / In South Africa the need for palliative care for the terminally ill is exacerbated by the upsurge of the HIV/AIDS epidemic resulting in more patients being in need of palliative care and the provision of effective pain management as part of providing them with palliative care. Effective pain management requires sound knowledge of the pathophysiology of pain and its treatment. Research found the attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge of healthcare professionals regarding pain management impact significantly on how these professionals practice pain control measures of the terminally ill. Despite the increase in knowledge and technological advances people still die in pain. The upsurge of cancer and AIDS cases require that all nursing practitioners be competent to deliver palliative care. Effective pain management is an integral part of palliative care. South Africa has a nurse-driven health care system where Registered Nurses are expected to become competent in among other health care issues, to manage pain in the increasing numbers of terminally ill patients due to especially AIDS epidemic.

The diploma thesis entitled "Experience of children in assessment and treatment of pain in hospitalization at children's departments" deals with the topic of children's pain and its treatment. The issue is the main topic of the theoretical and practical part of the thesis and both of them focus on children at their pre-school and school age. The theoretical part of the thesis describes the current state of the issue, the psychology of a child at the pre-school and school age and also pain as such and its specifics in children. It is obvious that pain of a child is different not only in diagnostics and treatment. A child reacts differently also in experiencing pain, and also fables are often among people regarding pain that persist even these days. It is important to realize that a child is not a smaller adult, and that is why care for a child must be different. At the same time a child has to be taken as an integral human being who experiences pain and it always has to be assessed objectively according to scales and other objective methods selected according to the child's age. In this area, a big problem can be fables about children's pain that persist even in the current population. The research part of the thesis is aimed at interviews with children hospitalized at children's departments regarding their pain and also interviews with nurses. It compares information obtained from both groups of respondents and it looks for answers to questions of experiencing pain by a child, assessment by a nurse and treatment. It is apparent from the results of the research that children perceived differences in assessment and treatment of pain at home and in hospital, particularly in the change of the person that have to approach, and also in using non-pharmacological methods that are used more by mothers at home. This regards frequency and the way of pain assessment; children are not aware of regularity of assessment, they do not know the scales that the nurses mentioned as those that are used most often. Treatment of pain in hospitals is mostly pharmacological. But children do not always get the information about effect of a drug when it is administered to them. At the same time this part of the thesis looks for the possibilities and the need to create a standard for assessment and treatment of pain in children as well as the most important parts that the standards should contain. In this connection, a draft of the standard for nursing care of a child in pain was created within the thesis which makes up an appendix hereof.

O câncer é a maior causa de morbidade e mortalidade em animais idosos de companhia, sendo a dor o principal sintoma relatado no homem. Objetivou-se, neste estudo, avaliar o emprego do tramadol para analgesia em cães com dor oncológica. Foram avaliados cães com câncer no período de agosto de 2004 a março de 2006, encaminhados ao Grupo de Dor do Serviço de Anestesia. Incluiu-se no estudo cães que permaneceram no mínimo 15 dias em tratamento e que, no momento de instituição da terapêutica com o tramadol, apresentaram dor igual ou maior que 4, de acordo com Escala Numérica Verbal (ENV) quando já medicados com dipirona associada ou não a antiinflamatórios não esteroidais ou esteroidais há mais de 10 (dez) dias. Avaliou-se a dor com a ENV e o escore de qualidade de vida (QV) através de escala validada para cães (Yazbek; Fantoni, 2000). Foram avaliados para o estudo 130 animais com câncer, 53 machos e 77 fêmeas, dos quais 37 obedeceram aos critérios de inclusão para análise da terapia analgésica. De acordo com a avaliação dos proprietários, a média de dor dos animais avaliados pela da ENV no momento de instituição da terapêutica com o tramadol foi de 6,11 ± 1,81 e o escore de qualidade de vida foi 21,95 ± 5,96. No primeiro retomo velificou-se melhora da dor em 31 (83,78%) animais. Neste momento foi realizada adequação da dose do tramadol, considerando-se a intensidade da dor em 20 (54,05%) dos 37 cães era superior a 4. No segundo retomo 34 (91,89%) dos animais apresentaram alívio da dor em relação à consulta inicial, sendo que 28 (75,68%) destes obtiveram ENV inferior a 4. A dose inicial preconizada do tramadol foi de 2mg/Kg a cada 8 horas, por via oral, sendo esta dose reajustada no retomo caso o valor de ENV fosse maior que 4. Classificando a eficácia do tratamento realizado com o tramadol em três categorias: alívio da dor (ENVinicial > ENVfinal e ENVfinal < 4), melhora insatisfatória (ENVinicial > ENVfinal e ENVfinal > 4) e ausência de melhora (ENVinicial &le; ENVfinal) pode-se afirmar que no primeiro retomo 83,78% e 78,28% dos pacientes, na opinião de proprietário e pesquisador respectivamente, experimentaram alguma melhora da dor. Seguindo esta mesma classificação observou-se que, no segundo retomo após acerto da dose do tramadol, o alívio da dor foi obtido em 28 (75,68%) animais na opinião de proprietário e pesquisador e melhora insatisfatória em 6 (16,21%) e 7 (18,91%) pacientes, de acordo com o proprietário e pesquisador respectivamente. Quando comparados os grupos separadamente verifica-se que o grupo DAINET (dipirona, AINE, tramadol) apresentou significante alívio da dor em relação aos primeiro retorno e a avaliação final, já os grupos DT (dipirona, tramadol) e DET (dipirona, esteróide, tramadol) apresentaram alívio da dor apenas em relação a avaliação final. Com base no alívio da dor e no aumento da qualidade de vida, pode-se concluir que o tramadol foi eficiente no tratamento da dor de grau moderada à intensa em cães portadores de câncer. / Cancer is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in companion aged dogs, being pain the principal symptom described in humans. This study aimed to evaluate the use of tramadol for analgesia in dogs with oncologic pain. Between august 2004 and marc 2006, dogs with cancer referred to the Pain Group of the Anesthesia Service were evaluated. In this study , dogs with at least fifteen days of treatment were included and that at the moment at tramadol administration, presented pain equal or above 4 according the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) when treated with dypirona associated our not to non-esteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics or steroidal for more than 10 days. Pain evaluated with the VAS and the quality of life (QV) score validated for dogs (Yazbek; Fantoni, 2000) were used. One hundred and thirty seven dogs with cancer were evaluated, but only 37 could be included the evaluation of analgesic therapy. According to the owner of the animals by means of the VAS at the begging of tramadol was 6,11 ± 1,81 and the QV score was 21,95 ± 5,96. At the first return, an improvement in pain was verified in 31 animals (83,78%). In this moment, adequacy of tramadol dose was performed, since the intensity of pain was above 4 in 20 (54,05%) animals. At the second returns 34 (91,89%) of the animals presented pain relief in relation to the first visit, being that 28 (75,68%) of the animal presented a VAS bellow 4 the initial dose o tramadol was 2mg/Kg each 8 hours orally, and the dose was readjusted in the return who the animal presented VAS above 4. Efficacy of treatment was classified in the three steps pain relief: successful pain relief (initial VAS > final VAS and final VAS < 4), unsuccessful pain relief (initial VAS > final VAS and final VAS > 4) and no pain relief (initial VAS &le; final VAS). It could be inferred that at the first return 83,78% and 78,28% of patients regarding owner and researcher opinion respectively obtained some pain relief. Following this some classification, it was observed that at the second return after adjusting the tramadol dosage, pain relieve was achieved in 28 (75,68%) of the animals the according to the owner and researcher and that an unsuccessful relief in 6 (16,21%) and 7 (18,91%) of patients respectively. When the groups were compared separately it was verified that the group DAINET (dypirona, AINE and tramadol) showed a significant pain relief in relation to the final evaluation, whereas the other two groups (DT - dypirona plus tramadol - and DET - dypirona, steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic and tramadol) presented pain relief only in relation to the final evaluation. Based on the results of pain relief and QV it could be concluded that tramadol was efficient regarding the treatment of moderate to severe pain in dogs with cancer.