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Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram
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Medically unexplained pain and suicidal ideation among US adults
Ashley Redding1, Viktoryia A Kalesnikava2, Rachel Bergmans3
1Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health, Detroit, MI 48202, United States of America.
Journal of Affective Disorders
|January 25, 2024
Summary
Adults with chronic pain and medically-unexplained pain (MUEP) showed higher odds of suicidal ideation and attempts compared to those with medically-explained pain (MEP). This highlights the importance of diagnostic and treatment processes in managing pain and suicide risk.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Pain Medicine
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Chronic pain is a known risk factor for suicide.
- Diagnosing pain syndromes can be challenging, especially when physical evidence is limited.
- Medically-unexplained pain (MUEP) presents unique diagnostic and management difficulties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between medically-unexplained pain (MUEP) and suicide behaviors.
- To compare the risk of suicide behaviors in individuals with MUEP versus those with medically-explained pain (MEP).
- To explore the role of diagnostic and treatment pathways in the relationship between pain and suicide.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R), a nationally representative sample of US adults.
- Analyzed a cohort of 3421 adults with a history of chronic pain, categorizing them into MEP or MUEP groups.
- Employed logistic regression to assess the relationship between MUEP and lifetime history of suicidal ideation and attempts.
Main Results:
- Approximately 11.6% of adults with chronic pain had MUEP, reporting earlier onset and greater health-related impairment.
- Individuals with MUEP had significantly higher odds of suicidal ideation (1.60 times) and suicide attempts (1.89 times) compared to those with MEP.
- Suicidal ideation was reported by 28.4% of those with MUEP versus 18.7% of those with MEP.
Conclusions:
- Medically-unexplained pain is more strongly associated with suicide behaviors than medically-explained pain among adults with chronic pain.
- Diagnostic and treatment processes play a crucial role in the complex relationship between pain and suicide.
- Further research into the interplay of pain, diagnosis, and suicide risk is warranted.
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