Pain coping behaviour strategies in people with haemophilia: A systematic literature review

Despite the fact that joint bleeds (haemarthrosis) frequently occur in people with haemophilia (PwH) with invalidating arthropathies as result, the clinical pain experience has received only limited attention. A sudden increase in pain intensity can be linked to a bleed, but in most cases, no acute bleed is confirmed. Nevertheless, a patient's perception of an acute bleed as cause of the pain might impact the patients' behaviour in response to pain. It is therefore essential to gain more insight into pain coping strategies seen in PwH.

This systematic review aims to identify the range of pain coping behaviour strategies used among PwH and the factors associated with pain coping behaviour.

This review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines (PRISMA). PubMed and Web of Science were systematically screened for relevant literature using keyword combinations related to adult PwH, pain and pain coping behaviour strategies. Risk of bias was assessed with the modified Newcastle-Ottowa Scale.

Eleven full text articles (nine cross-sectional and two comparative studies) consisting of 1832 PwH met the inclusion criteria. Due to the heterogeneity of the study samples, quality of evaluation instruments and varying risk of bias, it was difficult to draw conclusions regarding the used pain coping behaviour strategies and associated factors.

Literature on pain coping behaviour strategies and associated factors in PwH is still scarce and describes heterogenous results. Validated haemophilia-specific instruments are warranted to inventory pain coping behaviour in a standardized way.