Pain Management Commons^™

The Impact Of Prosthetics On Amputee Quality Of Life, Courtney Tabor

Liberal Arts Capstones

After someone has a limb amputated, their lifestyle must be rearranged to accommodate for the loss of the limb. This can include adjusting to an inability to do tasks that used to come easily and a drastic reduction in mobility. They may now require assistance with caring for themselves. As a side effect, amputees often experience a significant level of depression and anxiety related to their situation. A selection of literature was analyzed for the physiological, psychological, and sociological effects of losing a limb, and then for the ways in which a prosthetic limb would alleviate some of these issues. …

The Empathy Mitigation: Empathy And Its Impact On Pain Perception And Altruistic Motivation, Amanda Daly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Empathy and its impact on pain perception has been studied narrowly with the focus being on participants receiving empathy during a pain procedure. This study reversed the focus and ran a standard cold pressor test (CPT) in the context of an empathy frame structured to elicit an empathic response for others from participants. It was hypothesized that the group receiving the empathic frame would have longer CPT times due to alterations in pain perception from empathy activation and these subjects’ self-reported state-trait empathy level would positively correlate with the increased times. 85 subjects participated with a control group of 43 …

Emotion Regulation And Positive Affect In The Context Of Salivary Alpha-Amylase Response To Pain In Children With Cancer, Brooke N. Jenkins, Douglas A. Granger, Ryan J. Roemer, Ariana Martinez, Tara K. Torres, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Children with cancer routinely undergo painful medical procedures invoking strong physiological stress responses. Resilience to this pain may be conferred through resources such as emotion regulation strategies and positive affect.

Procedure

This study measured dispositional positive affect in children with cancer (N = 73) and randomly assigned participants to one of three emotion regulation strategy conditions (distraction, reappraisal, or reassurance). Children applied their assigned strategy during an experimental pain procedure (the cold pressor task [CPT]) and provided saliva samples before, immediately after, and 15 min after the CPT. Saliva samples were later assayed for salivary alpha amylase (sAA)—a surrogate …

Prescription Drug Abuse, Jiaxi Tian

Global Issues in Public Health

Prescription drug abuse is an action that portrayed as misuse or overuse of prescription drugs. It is a prevalent problem all over the world. U.S is a particular country that has drug abuse as a serious problem has several different causes of the drug abuse. In the U.S., most prescription drugs are pain killers. The outcomes of drug abuse vary but may lead to death.

Calling Attention To The Growing Heroin Epidemic And How To Fight It, Kendal Rozaieski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of creating a grassroots heroin awareness organization on a university campus through qualitative research. Various meeting types were attended as the grassroots efforts began: a student organization dedicated to the cause, the campus Alcohol and Other Drug Board, a local community treatment center agency, multiple University of Akron faculty members, and other heroin awareness groups in the community. Through observation and journaling of these meetings, I am sharing my experience based off analyzed field notes. After analyzation of these notes, common themes related to the formation of this kind of …

Evaluating The Relationship Between Phq9 And Global Pain Scale (Gps) Scores In Opioid Dependent Adults: A Retrospective Correlational Study, Lori Nolan

DNP Projects

Background: Depression, chronic pain and opioid dependence are conditions commonly encountered in primary care settings. These comorbidities create treatment challenges while negatively influencing outcomes of care. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) and Global Pain Scale (GPS) are valid screening tools used to score depression and pain symptoms. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the PHQ9 and Global Pain Scale (GPS) scores in opioid dependent adults with chronic pain to determine whether both tools are necessary.

Methods: This was a descriptive study using a retrospective correlational research design. Data was obtained from the electronic medical records …

Dissecting The Components Of Neuropathic Pain, Dale George

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pain is a public health issue affecting the lives of nearly 116 million adults in the US, annually. Understanding the physiological and phenotypic changes that occur in response to painful stimuli is of tremendous clinical interest, but, the complexity of pain and the lack of a representative in vitro model hinders the development of new therapeutics. Pain stimuli are first perceived and transmitted by the neurons within the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) which become hyperexcitable under these conditions. It has now been established that satellite glial cells (SGCs) that ensheathe the DRG cell body actively contribute to this neuronal dysregulation. …

The Role Of Diaphragmatic Breathing In Self-Regulation Skills Training, Matthew E. B. Russell

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

A central component of many psychological interventions is breathing training. Breathing training protocols based on a mindfulness or a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have demonstrated value in the management of psychological and medical ailments. Yet, despite the wealth of literature examining each approach, little direct comparison exists. An additional concern is the proliferation of smart phone health (mHealth) applications (apps) providing breathing training with little empirical evidence to support their clinical use. A possible explanation for the interest in breathing and mHealth apps is the growing body of literature indicating breathing training provides wide ranging health benefits through improved stasis …

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy As An Intervention For Adolescent Chronic Pain Related To Pectus Excavatum: A Case Study, Hayley N. Roberts

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The most common chest wall deformity, Pectus Excavatum (PE), is a congenital deformity in which the sternum and adjoining chest wall cave inwards toward the spine (Lawson et al., 2003). While corrective surgical procedures have been shown to have positive effects on the physical and psychosocial well-being of patients with PE (Krasopoulos, Dusmet, Ladas, & Goldstraw, 2006), often surgical procedures, such as those done to correct PE, can result in what is known as Chronic Post-Surgical Pain (CPSP). CPSP has been shown to have great bearing on the patient’s overall well-being (Weinrib et al., 2017), meaning that while the corrective …

End-Of-Life Care And Opioid Use In India: Challenges And Opportunities, Aasems Jacob, Aju Mathew

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Nyc Board Of Education Mandates Pledging Allegiance [Poem], Kate Abell

Occasional Paper Series

Kate Abell shares a poem following September 11. It is a criticism of the requirement of pledging allegiance to the flag in school.

A Story To Tell, Megan Rose

Occasional Paper Series

Rose recounts her experience on September 11 while being the teacher of an eleventh grade class. This essay demonstrates a teacher's need to be a leader and caregiver in the face of disaster, and subsequently allow for reflection and processing of emotions. Initially, her job stifled her own emotional response to the attack, but she was eventually able to use curriculum and creativity in the classroom to help herself and her students engage and reflect on their experiences.

Introduction: Teaching Through A Crisis: September 11 And Beyond, Alison Mckersie

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to a volume of essays that provided a vehicle through which educators could share their experiences following September 11. This includes how teachers were addressing the troubling questions that the tragedy raised: What kinds of conversations had been sparked among children, teachers, and parents? How had curriculum shifted in response to this heretofore unimaginable event?

Self-Compassion, Self-Injury, And Pain, Wesley Ellen Gregory, Jillian V. Glazer, Kathy R. Berenson

Psychology Faculty Publications

We conducted an experiment to examine self-compassion and responses to pain among undergraduate women with and without histories of self-injury. After a writing task that has been shown to increase self-compassion in a values-affirming condition relative to a neutral control condition, participants completed a self-report measure of state self-compassion and the cold pressor task. As predicted, participants with a history of self-injury reported lower trait self-compassion than those without such a history, and participants in the values-affirming condition reported significantly higher state self-compassion than those in the control condition. Moreover, participants with a history of self-injury demonstrated significantly less insensitivity …

The Moderating Effects Of Positive Religious/Spiritual Coping On Teachers’ Pain And Stress, Dawn Green

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this internet-based survey was to investigate the effects of positive religious or spiritual coping strategies on teachers’ chronic pain reports. Teachers in the United States may represent a vulnerable group due to a high prevalence of risk factors for chronic pain conditions. Teachers have been identified to experience high stress (Johnson, et al., 2005; Kyriacou, 2001) and report poor job satisfaction (Wang, Hall, & Rahimi, 2015), which are associated with development of chronic pain conditions (Kopec & Sayre, 2004). Religious coping strategies have been associated with beneficial associations with stress and health (Reutter & Bigatti, 2014). The …

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Training As An Intervention For Chronic Pain, Annette Marie Wilson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain. Treatment costs are in the billions and some patients still do not find relief. Current effectiveness research shows positive results for biofeedback training as an intervention for headache and other types of chronic pain. The present retrospective, archival study used patient information (N=72) collected during a heart rate variability biofeedback training program to assess treatment effectiveness among patients who experience chronic pain. More specifically, the study was designed to examine six research questions focused on patient-reported levels of pain and distress, as well as catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, and somatization. It was hypothesized that …

Is The Relationship Between Trait Mindfulness And Psychological Distress Indirect?, Sailesh Maharjan

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mindfulness, purposeful attention without judgment or acceptance, and related practices are increasingly popular with a large number of people and have been incorporated into many western psychotherapies (e.g., Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy). There is considerable debate over whether mindfulness is best studied as a state, trait or procedure. Although many studies have found that trait mindfulness is related to physical and mental health outcomes, less is known about the mechanism(s) through which mindfulness enhances clinical outcomes. The current study explored the role of potential mediators of the relationship between …

Provider Based Interventions To Mitigate Risk For Opioid Pain Medication Abuse Among Adult Patients In A Primary Care Setting, Sheree Lamara Conley-Donaldson

Doctoral Projects

Mental and substance use disorders are predicted to exceed all physical disease processes causing major disability by 2020. Misuse and overdose of opioid pain medications is a significant public health concern in the United States. Approximately 1 in 4 patients receiving prescription opioids in primary care settings struggle with misuse. Half of all opioid prescriptions are written by primary care providers, including nurse practitioners. The purpose of this DNP project was to determine if nurse practitioner providers are implementing evidence-based practice guidelines including screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) to mitigate risk of prescription opioid pain medication misuse …

Reconnecting The Mind And Body: A Pilot Study Of Developing Compassion For Persistent Pain, Sarah L. Parry Dr, Zoey Malpus Dr

Patient Experience Journal

As an alternative to the more typical cognitive behavioural approach to pain management, a novel pain management group based on the principles of compassionate mind training was developed for a particular sub-group of patients. Participants were patients of a community pain clinic, who were invited to participate in this alternative approach to pain management. The eight-week Compassion in Pain Groups included psychoeducation around persistent pain, the underlying principles of compassionate mind training, practical exercises such as diaphragmatic breathing, followed by a series of compassionate imagery exercises and group discussions. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken to gain further insights …

Prescription Opioids: A Band-Aid For Chronic Low Back Pain, Rebekah Dunn

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Posters

Pain is one of the most common reasons patients seek medical care in the outpatient clinic and emergency department setting.

 • In the last decade, per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), prescription drug abuse and overdose, specifically opioids, has become the leading cause of injury and deaths in the United States.

• “Opioids—primarily prescription pain relievers and heroin—are the main driver of overdose deaths and were involved in 28,647 deaths in 2014…opioid overdoses have quadrupled (an increase of 200%) since 2000” (Rudd et al. 2016).

• In 2016 the CDC established guidelines of clinical practice regarding management of …