Disease-Related, Nondisease-Related, and Situational Catastrophizing in Sickle Cell Disease and Its Relationship With Pain.

Unlabelled: Catastrophizing is a potent psychological modulator of pain across several chronic pain populations; yet despite evidence that patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) catastrophize more than patients with other chronic pain conditions, previous research indicates that catastrophizing is not related to sickle cell pain after controlling for relevant covariates such as depression. Recent research suggests that pain-related catastrophizing should be assessed across pain contexts (eg, dispositional and situational). In this study, we measured disease-specific, general non-disease-related, and situational catastrophizing and assessed the relationship between these contextual dimensions of catastrophizing and laboratory and clinical pain among patients with SCD.

Multiple Levels of Suffering: Discrimination in Health-Care Settings is Associated With Enhanced Laboratory Pain Sensitivity in Sickle Cell Disease.

Objective: People living with sickle cell disease (SCD) experience severe episodic and chronic pain and frequently report poor interpersonal treatment within health-care settings. In this particularly relevant context, we examined the relationship between perceived discrimination and both clinical and laboratory pain.

Methods: Seventy-one individuals with SCD provided self-reports of experiences with discrimination in health-care settings and clinical pain severity, and completed a psychophysical pain testing battery in the laboratory.

Dynamic Pain Phenotypes are Associated with Spinal Cord Stimulation-Induced Reduction in Pain: A Repeated Measures Observational Pilot Study.

Objective: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has become a widely used treatment option for a variety of pain conditions. Substantial variability exists in the degree of benefit obtained from SCS and patient selection is a topic of expanding interest and importance. However, few studies have examined the potential benefits of dynamic quantitative sensory testing (QST) to develop objective measures of SCS outcomes or as a predictive tool to help patient selection.

Measuring what matters: top-ranked quality indicators for hospice and palliative care from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association.

Context: Measuring quality of hospice and palliative care is critical for evaluating and improving care, but no standard U.S. quality indicator set exists.