Use of prescription analgesic medication and pain catastrophizing after total joint replacement surgery.

Objective: To survey the use of analgesic medication 4.8 years after total joint replacement (TJR) surgery and assess the determinants of medication usage.

Patients And Methods: Of 852 patients who had undergone TJR for osteoarthritis were recruited from secondary care.

A cross-sectional study of pain sensitivity, disease-activity assessment, mental health, and fibromyalgia status in rheumatoid arthritis.

Introduction: Pain remains the most important problem for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Active inflammatory disease contributes to pain, but pain due to non-inflammatory mechanisms can confound the assessment of disease activity. We hypothesize that augmented pain processing, fibromyalgic features, poorer mental health, and patient-reported 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) components are associated in RA.

Pain phenotype in patients with knee osteoarthritis: classification and measurement properties of painDETECT and self-report Leeds assessment of neuropathic symptoms and signs scale in a cross-sectional study.

Objective: Multiple mechanisms are involved in pain associated with osteoarthritis (OA). The painDETECT and Self-Report Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) questionnaires screen for neuropathic pain and may also identify individuals with musculoskeletal pain who exhibit abnormal central pain processing. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate painDETECT and S-LANSS for classification agreement and fit to the Rasch model, and to explore their relationship to pain severity and pain mechanisms in OA.

Identification of new susceptibility loci for osteoarthritis (arcOGEN): a genome-wide association study.

Background: Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis worldwide and is a major cause of pain and disability in elderly people. The health economic burden of osteoarthritis is increasing commensurate with obesity prevalence and longevity. Osteoarthritis has a strong genetic component but the success of previous genetic studies has been restricted due to insufficient sample sizes and phenotype heterogeneity.