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Abstract - Chronic pain after spinal cord injury: What characteristics make some pains more disturbing than others?

Elizabeth Roy Felix, PhD, et al.

Figure. Prevalence of pain locations. Participants outlined areas on drawingwhere they experienced chronic pain.

Many persons develop chronic pain following a spinal cord injury (SCI). Frequently, a person with SCI experiences more than one type of pain. In this study, we determined that the pain characteristics sharp, more constantly present, very intense, aggravating, and interfering most predicted whether participants identified a particular pain as the "most disturbing" of all pains they had. We believe this study will give health professionals insight into which pain characteristics they should include in a thorough examination of pain so that the greatest improvement in quality of life for persons with SCI and chronic pain is achieved.


Volume 44 Number 5 2007
Pages 703 — 716

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