Researchers Assess Scope, Nature Of Pain Among Patients With MS
Chronic or transient pain appears to affect a majority of patients with multiple sclerosis and interferes with the regular life activities of these patients, a new study indicates.
Researchers sent a survey to 180 patients with MS to evaluate the scope, nature and impact of pain. The survey included question about demographic information, MS disease measures, and measures related to pain such as pain intensity, variability, location and interference related to pain.
Overall, 118 of the subjects (66 percent) reported experiencing pain during the three months prior to the survey. Nearly half of these participants (47.5 percent) rated their pain as mild pain while 25.4 percent rated the pain as severe. Approximately 60 percent of those with pain also reported "pain that comes and goes" during the four weeks before the survey and nearly 41 percent reported constant pain.
In addition, the authors found that of those who reported pain, the average level of overall pain interference was 3.3 on a 0-10 scale. The highest level of pain interference was related to sleep, recreational activities and work in and outside the home.
Subjects with pain were also more likely to report greater MS disease severity, poorer psychological functioning and poorer health than were patients who did not report pain. Those with pain were less likely to be employed, the authors noted.
"These findings are consistent with previous research that shows that pain is common in MS that it is severe in a substantial subset of these individuals and has the potential to negatively impact physical and psychosocial functioning over and above the effects of MS itself," the investigators concluded.
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