Somatosensory impairment and chronic pain following stroke: an observational study
Files
(Published version)
Date
2023
Authors
Haslam, B.S.
Butler, D.S.
Kim, A.S.
Carey, L.M.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023; 20(2):1-11
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Abstract
Background: Chronic pain and somatosensory impairment are common following a stroke. It is possible that an interaction exists between pain and somatosensory impairment and that a change in one may influence the other. We therefore investigated the presence of chronic pain and self-reported altered somatosensory ability in individuals with stroke, aiming to determine if chronic pain is more common in stroke survivors with somatosensory impairment than in those without.
Methods: Stroke survivors were invited to complete an online survey that included demographics, details of the stroke, presence of chronic pain, and any perceived changes in body sensations post-stroke.
Results: Survivors of stroke (n = 489) completed the survey with 308 indicating that they experienced chronic pain and 368 reporting perceived changes in somatosensory function. Individuals with strokes who reported altered somatosensory ability were more likely to experience chronic pain than those who did not (OR = 1.697; 95% CI 1.585, 2.446). Further, this difference was observed for all categories of sensory function that were surveyed (detection of light touch, body position, discrimination of surfaces and temperature, and haptic object recognition).
Conclusions: The results point to a new characteristic of chronic pain in strokes, regardless of nature or region of the pain experienced, and raises the potential of somatosensory impairment being a rehabilitation target to improve pain-related outcomes for stroke survivors.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
Copyright 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)