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Citation
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Marcondes BF, Sreepathi S, Markowski J, Nguyen D, Stock SR, Carvalho S, Tate D, Zafonte R, Morse L, Fregni F. Eur. J. Phys. Rehabil. Med. 2015; 52(5): 630-636. |
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Affiliation
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Spaulding Neuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA - felipe.fregni@ppcr.hms.harvard.edu. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Following a spinal cord injury, patients are often burdened by chronic pain. Preliminary research points to activation of the motor cortex through increased mobility as a potential means of alleviating post-injury chronic pain.
AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between pain severity and mobility among patients who have sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury while controlling for clinically-relevant covariates.
METHODS: A multi-center, cross-sectional study was performed to assess the impact of mobility on self-reported pain using information from 1,980 subjects who sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury and completed a year-one follow-up interview between October 2000 and December 2013. Patient information was acquired using the Spinal Cord Injury National Database, compiled by the affiliated Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems. Analyses included a multivariable linear regression of patients' self-reported pain scores on mobility, quantified using the CHART- SF mobility total score, and other clinically relevant covariates.
RESULTS: After controlling for potential confounders, a significant quadratic relationship between mobility and patients' self-reported pain was observed (p = 0.016). Furthermore, female gender, 'unemployed' occupational status, paraplegia, and the presence of depressive symptoms were associated with significantly higher pain scores (p < 0.02 for all variables). Statistically significant quadratic associations between pain scores and age at injury, life satisfaction total score, and the CHART-SF occupational total subscale were also observed (p ≤ 0.03 for all variables).
CONCLUSION: Among patients with moderate to high levels of mobility, pain scores decreased with increasing mobility.
Language: en |