A study protocol for the profile of pain in older women: assessing the multi dimensional nature of the experience of pai
- PDF / 224,194 Bytes
- 7 Pages / 595.276 x 793.701 pts Page_size
- 87 Downloads / 143 Views
CHIROPRACTIC & MANUAL THERAPIES
STUDY PROTOCOL
Open Access
A study protocol for the profile of pain in older women: assessing the multi dimensional nature of the experience of pain in arthritis Katie de Luca1*, Lynne Parkinson2 and Julie Byles1
Abstract Background: Arthritis is a significant contributor to illness, pain and disability and imposes a considerable burden upon the community. Pain is a cardinal symptom of arthritis and has significant implications on biopsychosocial wellbeing. The multidimensional nature of the experience of pain in arthritis has not been well defined in community-based samples. Aims: The two aims of this study are to generate profiles of pain from a community sample of older women and to compare profiles for women with and without arthritis. Methods: The sub study is a cross-sectional postal survey of 700 Australian community-based women. The survey includes a range of measures on health, arthritis and pain that will be used to examine the multidimensional nature of the experience of pain in arthritis and generate profiles of pain. Discussion: With no core set of measures for the evaluation of arthritis pain, this survey was created from an amalgamation of measures to capture multiple dimensions of pain. Findings from this study will assist in defining the symptom of pain in arthritis and may lead to further research in evidence-based treatment options for people with arthritis. Keywords: Research design, Cross-sectional studies, Health status, Arthritis, Pain
Background Arthritis is a major contributor to individual illness, pain and disability and imposes a significant social and economic burden on the community [1]. Arthritis is common among older people, with at least 50% of people over the age of 65 having clinical arthritis [2]. Arthritis is also more common in women, with 50% of Australian women aged over 85 years reporting symptomatic osteoarthritis [3]. In 2005, 56% of Australians who reported arthritis as their main disabling condition reported chronic or recurrent pain [4]. Arthritis pain, whether acute or chronic, is the key disabling symptom of this disease [5]. Pain is an internal, subjective experience that cannot be directly observed by others and therefore assessment * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Research Centre for Gender Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
relies upon self-report [6]. The experience of pain in arthritis is multi-dimensional in nature, encompassing dimensions such as intensity, quality, location, frequency, duration, variability, and trajectory; as well as onset, mechanism, aetiology, sensory and affective qualities, exacerbating or alleviating factors, activity limitations, and effect on sleep [7-11]. Biopsychosocial aspects such as biological ageing, attitudes, beliefs, coping, expectations, prior experiences, fear, mood, presence and response of social support, and social context are among the many variables that will infl
Data Loading...
