Patients and healthcare professionals perspectives on creating a chronic pain support line in Portugal: A qualitative study protocol.

Chronic pain affects almost 38% of the Portuguese adult population, with high costs for both patients and society. Those who suffer with chronic pain frequently complain of feeling misunderstood and of lack of support. These complaints are the main reason why support telephone lines for chronic pain were created in some countries.

Acceptance and Adherence to COVID-19 Vaccination-The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Representations.

Vaccine hesitation is a topic of utmost importance, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as a clear reminder of its timeliness. Besides evaluating COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in a sample of Portuguese people, this study aims at understanding cognitive and emotional representations related to vaccination, and their influence on vaccination hesitation. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between 27 December 2020 and 27 January 2021.

Pain as the fifth vital sign-A comparison between public and private healthcare systems.

Background: The assessment of pain as the fifth vital sign (P5VS) is of paramount importance since it leads to the management of undertreated pain, consequently reducing suffering, readmissions and emergency department visits after hospital discharge.

Objective: To evaluate the implementation of P5VS in public and private hospitals.

Methods: Data analysis on validated questionnaires was sent to all 171 Portuguese hospitals via an official letter.

TLR4 Antagonism Reduces Movement-Induced Nociception and ATF-3 Expression in Experimental Osteoarthritis.

Introduction: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a pattern recognition receptor involved in the detection of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), but also a "danger-sensing" receptor that recognizes host-derived endogenous molecules called damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). The involvement of TLR4 in rheumatic diseases is becoming evident, as well as its potential role as a target for therapeutic intervention. Moreover, increasing evidence also suggests that TLR4 is implicated in chronic pain states.

Portuguese Version of the Intentional Non-Adherence Scale: Validation in a Population of Chronic Pain Patients.

Despite the effectiveness of pain medicines, nonadherence to prescribed medication remains a major problem faced by healthcare systems. The aim of present study was to perform the translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Intentional Non-Adherence Scale (INAS) for the European Portuguese language in a sample of chronic pain patients. A Portuguese version of the INAS scale was constructed through a process of translation, back translation, and expert's panel evaluation.

Non-Adherence to Pharmacotherapy: A Prospective Multicentre Study About Its Incidence and Its Causes Perceived by Chronic Pain Patients.

Objective: Pharmacological interventions remain the cornerstone of chronic pain treatment; however, nearly 40% of the prescription medicines are not taken as prescribed. The present study aims at understanding and describing non-adherence from the perspective of chronic pain patients during a 1-year follow-up study.

Methods: A cohort of 950 consecutive patients referred to a first consultation in Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinics was followed with a standardized protocol for 1 year.

Improving perioperative pain management: a preintervention and postintervention study in 7 developing countries.

Introduction: The burden of untreated postoperative pain is high.

Objective: This study assessed feasibility of using quality improvement (QI) tools to improve management of perioperative pain in hospitals in multiple developing countries.

Methods: The International Pain Registry and Developing Countries working groups, from the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), sponsored the project and PAIN OUT, a QI and research network, coordinated it, and provided the research tools.

Portuguese version of the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-9): Validation in a population of chronic pain patients.

Aim: The aim of present study was to perform the translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-P9) for the European Portuguese language in a sample of chronic pain patients.

Methods: A Portuguese version of the nine-item MARS (©Professor Rob Horne) scale (MARS-P9) was constructed through a process of translation, back translation, and experts' panel evaluation. A total of 141 chronic pain patients were subsequently evaluated at four time assessments during a 1-year pain medication treatment.

Effectiveness of Opioids for Chronic Noncancer Pain: A Two-Year Multicenter, Prospective Cohort Study With Propensity Score Matching.

Opioid use in chronic non cancer pain (CNCP) is still controversial regarding their effectiveness and safety. We conducted a 2-year prospective cohort study in 4 multidisciplinary chronic pain clinics to assess long-term opioid effectiveness in CNCP patients. All adult CNCP patients consecutively admitted to their first consultation were recruited.

A Two-Year Prospective Multicenter Study of Opioid Therapy for Chronic Noncancer Pain: Prescription Trends and Predictors.

Objectives: Opioid use in chronic pain has increased worldwide in recent years. The aims of this study were to describe the trends and patterns of opioid therapy over two years of follow-up in a cohort of chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) patients and to assess predictors of long-term opioid use and clinical outcomes.

Methods: A prospective cohort study with two years of follow-up was undertaken in four multidisciplinary chronic pain clinics.

Amylin, a peptide expressed by nociceptors, modulates chronic neuropathic pain.

Background: Amylin is a calcitonin gene-related peptide family member expressed by nociceptors. Amylin's expression is down-regulated following nerve damage, and studies suggested it affects nociception. We aimed at clarifying amylin's effects on chronic neuropathic pain and investigating its site of action.

Impact of the economic crisis on pain research: a bibliometric analysis of pain research publications from Ireland, Greece, and Portugal between 1997 and 2017.

Background and aims The recent economic crisis started in the USA in 2008 but quickly had worldwide impact. Ireland, Greece, and Portugal were in economic distress in 2009 and received rescue monetary packages from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the following years. Meanwhile, the economic recovery has begun for those countries, but at different paces.

Lung cancer: a brief review of epidemiology and screening.

The global burden of lung cancer has been increasing over the past years, and is still a major threat to public health worldwide, leading to disabilities and premature mortality. Despite multifactorial cause, smoking remains as the major etiological factor, followed by occupational exposure to carcinogens, genetic predisposition and other concomitant diseases. In order to reduce the individual and social burden due to the direct and indirect costs related to the lung cancer treatment, accurate methods of screening are needed.

Interventional Pain Management in Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinics: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study with One-Year Follow-Up.

Background: Interventional Pain Management (IPM) is performed in multidisciplinary chronic pain clinics (MCPC), including a range of invasive techniques to diagnose and treat chronic pain (CP) conditions. Current patterns of use of those techniques in MCPC have not yet been reported.

Objective: We aimed to describe quantitatively and qualitatively the use of IPM and other therapeutic procedures performed on-site at four Portuguese MCPC.

Persistent postoperative pain after cardiac surgery: a systematic review with meta-analysis regarding incidence and pain intensity.

Persistent postoperative pain (PPP) has been described as a complication of cardiac surgery (CS). We aimed to study PPP after CS (PPPCS) by conducting a systematic review of the literature regarding its incidence, intensity, location, and the presence of neuropathic pain, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The review comprised 3 phases: a methodological assessment of 6 different databases identifying potential articles and screening for inclusion criteria by 2 independent reviewers; data extraction; and study quality assessment.

Drug-Induced HSP90 Inhibition Alleviates Pain in Monoarthritic Rats and Alters the Expression of New Putative Pain Players at the DRG.

Purinergic receptors (P2XRs) have been widely associated with pain states mostly due to their involvement in neuron-glia communication. Interestingly, we have previously shown that satellite glial cells (SGC), surrounding dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, become activated and proliferate during monoarthritis (MA) in the rat. Here, we demonstrate that P2X7R expression increases in ipsilateral DRG after 1 week of disease, while P2X3R immunoreactivity decreases.

Glial activation in the collagenase model of nociception associated with osteoarthritis.

Background Experimental osteoarthritis entails neuropathic-like changes in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Since glial activation has emerged as a key player in nociception, being reported in numerous models of neuropathic pain, we aimed at evaluating if glial cell activation may also occur in the DRG and spinal cord of rats with osteoarthritis induced by intra-articular injection of collagenase. Methods Osteoarthritis was induced by two injections, separated by three days, of 500 U of type II collagenase into the knee joint of rats.

Reliability and validity of the Bowel Function Index for evaluating opioid-induced constipation: translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the Portuguese version (BFI-P).

Objective: The Bowel Function Index (BFI) is a simple and sound bowel function and opioid-induced constipation (OIC) screening tool. We aimed to develop the translation and cultural adaptation of this measure (BFI-P) and to assess its reliability and validity for the Portuguese language and a chronic pain population.

Methods: The BFI-P was created after a process including translation, back translation and cultural adaptation.

Portuguese Version of the Pain Beliefs and Perceptions Inventory: A Multicenter Validation Study.

Background: We aimed to perform the translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Pain Beliefs and Perceptions Inventory (PBPI) for the European Portuguese language and chronic pain population.

Methods: This is a longitudinal multicenter validation study. A Portuguese version of the PBPI (PBPI-P) was created through a process of translation, back translation, and expert panel evaluation.

A prospective study on the neurological complications of breast cancer and its treatment: Updated analysis three years after cancer diagnosis.

Objectives: To quantify the prevalence of neurological complications among breast cancer patients at one and three years after diagnosis, and to identify factors associated with neuropathic pain (NP) and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).

Material And Methods: Prospective cohort study including 475 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, recruited among those proposed for surgical treatment (Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto). Patients underwent a neurological evaluation and had their cognitive function assesses with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, before treatment and at one and three years after enrollment.

Spared nerve injury model to study orofacial pain.

Background & Objectives: There are many difficulties in generating and testing orofacial pain in animal models. Thus, only a few and limited models that mimic the human condition are available. The aim of the present research was to develop a new model of trigeminal pain by using a spared nerve injury (SNI) surgical approach in the rat face (SNI-face).

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy after neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment of breast cancer: a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to estimate the incidence of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and to identify its main determinants and impact in patient-reported outcomes.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study including 296 patients with incident breast cancer submitted to chemotherapy, followed for 1 year. Patients with incident CIPN were reevaluated 6 months after this diagnosis.

Neurological complications of breast cancer: A prospective cohort study.

Objectives: Neurological complications secondary to breast cancer treatment may be an important contributor to these patients morbidity. We aimed to quantify the incidence of neurological complications of breast cancer treatment during the first year after diagnosis.

Materials And Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study with 506 patients recruited at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, among those newly diagnosed.

Results of Lumbar Endoscopic Adhesiolysis Using a Radiofrequency Catheter in Patients with Postoperative Fibrosis and Persistent or Recurrent Symptoms After Discectomy.

Objective: To evaluate the results of lumbar epiduroscopic adhesiolysis using mechanical methods and a radiofrequency catheter followed by epidural steroid and local anesthetic administration in patients with postoperative fibrosis and persistent or recurrent symptoms.

Study Design: Prospective study.

Methods: Patients with persistent or recurrent low back and/or lower limb pain after lumbar spine surgery, in whom no relevant findings were present on MR images besides epidural scar tissue, were submitted to epiduroscopic adhesiolysis.