BODY AWARENESS, STRESS AND SYMPTOMS IN AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC PAIN: AN EXPLORATIVE STUDY

Overview

Journal J Rehabil Med Clin Commun

Specialty Rehabilitation Medicine

Date 2024 Jul 3

PMID 38957475

Authors

Emma Varkey

Raquel Gottfridsson

Anna Grimby-Ekman

Anna Bjarnegard Sellius

Maria Ostman

Paulin Andrell

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To assess pain outcomes, stress levels and body awareness among patients with chronic pain and explore potential associations between these variables.

Design: An explorative study.

Methods: Patients with chronic pain in primary and specialist care were assessed regarding pain intensity using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS; 0-10 point scale) and stress levels using the Stress and Crisis Inventory (SCI-93; 0-140). To assess body awareness, multidimensional assessment of interoceptive awareness (MAIA; 0-5), a widely used self-report measure of interoceptive bodily awareness was used.

Results: Participants ( = 42) reported an average NRS of 4.4, elevated stress levels and low body awareness. Stress levels were moderately correlated with pain intensity ( = 0.53; < 0.001; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-0.72) and number of pain sites ( = 0.58; < 0.001; 95% CI 0.32-0.76). The regression analysis showed that pain outcomes predicted stress level scores and explained almost 50% of variance ( = 0.47, < 0.001). Moreover, shorter pain duration predicted a higher body awareness ( = 0.04).

Conclusion: In patients with chronic pain, high pain intensity and multiple painful sites seem to be associated with impaired stress regulation. The patients had low body awareness, which was negatively influenced by pain duration.

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