Systems Neuroscience and Pain Lab, Division of Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1070 Arastradero Road, Suite 200, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 19;12(1):6435. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-10431-5.
Empirical data on the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic remain scarce, especially among patients with chronic pain. We conducted a cross-sectional study matched by season to examine patient-reported health symptoms among patients with chronic pain pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic onset. Survey responses were analyzed from 7535 patients during their initial visit at a tertiary pain clinic between April 2017-October 2020. Surveys included measures of pain and pain-related physical, emotional, and social function. The post-COVID-19 onset cohort included 1798 initial evaluations, and the control pre-COVID-19 cohort included 5737 initial evaluations. Patients were majority female, White/Caucasian, and middle-aged. The results indicated that pain ratings remained unchanged among patients after the pandemic onset. However, pain catastrophizing scores were elevated when COVID-19 cases peaked in July 2020. Pain interference, physical function, sleep impairment, and emotional support were improved in the post-COVID-19 cohort. Depression, anxiety, anger, and social isolation remained unchanged. Our findings provide evidence of encouraging resilience among patients seeking treatment for pain conditions in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, our findings that pain catastrophizing increased when COVID-19 cases peaked in July 2020 suggests that future monitoring and consideration of the impacts of the pandemic on patients' pain is warranted.
关于 COVID-19 大流行对健康影响的经验数据仍然很少，尤其是在慢性疼痛患者中。我们进行了一项横断面研究，按季节匹配，以检查 COVID-19 大流行发病前后慢性疼痛患者的报告健康症状。在 2017 年 4 月至 2020 年 10 月期间，从一家三级疼痛诊所的 7535 名患者的首次就诊中分析了调查回复。调查包括疼痛及其相关身体、情绪和社会功能的测量。COVID-19 发病后队列包括 1798 次初始评估，COVID-19 发病前队列包括 5737 次初始评估。患者主要为女性、白种人/高加索人，年龄居中。结果表明，大流行发病后患者的疼痛评分保持不变。然而，2020 年 7 月 COVID-19 病例达到高峰时，疼痛灾难化评分升高。COVID-19 发病后队列的疼痛干扰、身体功能、睡眠障碍和情绪支持得到改善。抑郁、焦虑、愤怒和社会隔离保持不变。我们的研究结果提供了证据，表明在 COVID-19 大流行期间，寻求疼痛治疗的患者具有令人鼓舞的适应力。然而，我们发现 2020 年 7 月 COVID-19 病例达到高峰时疼痛灾难化增加，这表明需要未来监测和考虑大流行对患者疼痛的影响。
